The Great Espiritu
by RIVolleyball214
Summary: Mario must leave his quiet retirement and search for a spirit that will change the lives of everyone on Isle Delfino if not brought back. After a very long hiatus, Chapter 12 is finally up; reading and reviewing would be greatly appreciated.
1. Prologue

Alright, I've been working of the fic for a while and I've finally finished up the prologue. I don't own Nintendo or most of the characters, but several of the characters are of my own creation. This is a Mario meets Pirates of the Caribbean type story, and I hope you like it; this is just the prologue, so don't think the story won't get better. Enjoy!

P.S. If you like action and don't like reading boring but well-written stuff, please skip the prologue and go right on to chapter 1. I've noticed a lot of people stop reading this story after the prologue, and I don't want people thinking that the whole story will be like this.

**Prologue: New Lives**

Mario was abruptly awakened by a large clap of thunder outside his bedroom window. Slightly startled, he jumped out of his bed quickly, grabbed his red hat off of his dark oak dresser, and began sprinting out of the room.

_Oh gosh, what time is it?_ He thought to himself while he ran. The last thing he could remember, Mario had decided to take a quick nap before going to meet with his brother, Luigi. He had no idea how much time had gone by since then. After turning a corner to the staircase, Mario felt a blow to his stomach as he collided with someone who was running faster down the hallway than himself

"Master Mario!" Toad yelled, rubbing his forehead and wiping off his knees, "I was just running to your room to get you. You're gonna be late to your meeting with Luigi!"

Mario, also recovering from the collision, breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good, I thought I had overslept. That thunder woke me up, though. Since when does it rain around here?"

"Peach was just saying the same"-

Before Toad could finish his sentence, his sister, Toadette, swerved around the corner and collided with Toad, causing them both to fall over in front of Mario.

"Oh, hello Mario," said Toadette, getting up and wiping off her clothes, "I was just coming up to get you. Toadsworth thought Toad might have been distracted."

"What! Why does he think I'm incapable of doing anything?"

"Doesn't matter," replied Mario, "I was already awake, Toadette, but thanks for the effort. I can see you were running pretty fast. As were you, Toad. I'll be sure to tell Toadsworth to have a little more faith in you. Now if you don't mind, get out of my way so I can go!"

Mario ran down the flight of stairs and into the kitchen. They were still moving into their new home on Isle Delfino, and it seemed that he and the toads never had any time to finish unpacking. He was about to walk out the front door when the high-pitched voice of his wife, Peach, sounded behind him.

"Mario, wait Mario!"

_Not now, Peach_, Mario thought to himself. "Hey, Peach. I'm kind of late and I've got to get out of here. So"-

"I know Mario," Peach retorted. "I just wanted to show you this." She showed him the envelope in her hand and opened the card it contained. "It's an invitation to The Espiritu Festival," she explained. "It's like a peace celebration between the Piantas and Noki. I guess it's a really big deal around here, so we're going. Got it? Nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

Mario could think of many things he would rather be doing at that time, sleeping topping the list, but ever since they had moved to the island, Peach wanted to be involved in everything that went on. Mario suspected she was becoming somewhat bored because she no longer had her duties as Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, but had never talked to her about it. "Sure, I'd love to go," he told her. "But I'm already late for Luigi, so bye!"

Without waiting for a reply, Mario walked out of the door and jogged through the grounds of Toadstool Manor, a fabulous mansion that overlooked Ricco Harbor, Isle Delfino's major port city. Within ten minutes, Mario was in front of Sporco Bar, a restaurant popular among fisherman and sailors; it wasn't a place that Mario would usually go, but Luigi insisted on meeting him here. Ever since Luigi met Flavio, the greedy pirate Mario encountered back in Rogueport, Mario rarely ever saw his brother. Whether they were climbing mountains or sailing the high seas, Luigi and Flavio rarely ever stopped by to visit. Mario was very excited when he received a letter from Luigi a week ago saying he was coming to Isle Delfino, and was now disappointed with himself for being late.

Mario walked through the ancient door, and stared in disgust at the grimy, dusty bar that he had just entered. _Great location, Luigi, _Mario thought as he walked up to the bartender, who Mario thought was an absolute joke. He was missing one of every pair of body parts visible to Mario. With one eye, one arm, one leg, and one ear, Mario wondered what this guy had gone through to obtain these injuries. "Um…hello" Mario said to the bartender. "I was wondering if you could tell me if a guy named Luigi is here somewhere. I'm supposed to be meeting him."

The bartender shook his head, but pointed up and nodded. Mario thought this man was very strange, but understood him nonetheless. He thanked him and ran up the stairs, finding that the second floor was just as pleasant and clean as the first. It didn't take him long to find the table where Luigi and Flavio resided; they were laughing hysterically at some joke Mario had just missed, but Luigi smiled as he saw his brother walking towards him.

"Mario, there you are!" Luigi exclaimed happily, "We thought you weren't going to show!"

"You think I would miss this? I haven't seen you or Flavio in months!" Mario sat on a dingy stool next to Luigi and shook hands with Flavio. He couldn't say that he disliked Flavio, but their last terrifying adventure in Rogueport caused Mario to think he was somewhat crazy and cared too much about gold and too little about others. Mario was somewhat surprised when Luigi became friends with Flavio while still in Rogueport, but was happy nonetheless that Luigi had found someone who enjoyed traveling the world as much as he did.

"Well, we have loads to tell you!" Luigi announced. And Luigi dived into stories about crazy adventures involving near-death situations, perilous mountain climbing expeditions and a bad experience with a gang of shy-guys. Mario sat there, listening to Luigi rambling on for hours; he was so glad to see that his brother was happy at last.

"…and it hurt a lot, but the doctors were able to reattach all of the fingers successfully," Luigi explained. "But enough about Flavio and I, what have you been up to, Mario? Is Peach alright?"

"Yeah, we're all still settling in," Mario answered. "You know, we're still putting in all if the furniture, and Peach and I are talking about getting a pool"-

Flavio burst out laughing, spitting beer all over Luigi's overalls and interrupting Mario's news. "Mario, you can't be serious!" Flavio shouted, causing several nearby tables to stare at him strangely. "After all Luigi has told me about you and all of your adventures together, you're telling me that your biggest adventure nowadays is picking out a pool?"

Mario stared at him for a couple of seconds, thinking of how he could respond to this. He finally just told Flavio that he had a new life now. "I'm married, Flavio. can't just run around without a care in the world anymore. I have responsibilities."

Flavio smirked and stared at Luigi. "Do you believe this?" he asked Luigi, "Are you telling me that you don't even think about you're old life? He questioned, now looking at Mario. Mario thought about it for a minute, knowing himself what the real answer was.

"The old life? I think about it from time to time, but those days are over for me. I have Peach, and that's all I'll ever need. You two might still like running around, but I've grown up and"-

"Hey!" Luigi interrupted.

"Sorry, that's not what I meant to say. I just have a new life and can't do the things I used to anymore. Is that good enough for you, Flavio?"

Flavio smiled and took another gulp of beer; it was clear that he had already had way too much. That's…That's just…Fantastic!" He held his glass high in the air before tilting back in his chair, falling over, and not getting back up. Mario found this slightly amusing, but Luigi shook his head disapprovingly.

"If you can believe it, this isn't the first time this has happened," Luigi told him. "If there's one thing that I don't like about Flavio, it's the drinking." He sat back in his chair and he and Mario began talking once again, this time without the annoying interruptions of Flavio. "So, you and Peach are happy here? I bet it's weird now that she isn't ruling a kingdom anymore."

"Well, we have a lot more free time now that we both aren't so busy, but yeah, we are happy. We still have Toadsworth, Toad, and Toadette with us at least. But everyone in the house misses seeing you all the time." Mario could see that Luigi was having fun with his new life, but Mario thought that he might be forgetting about the people that cared for him the most. Just then, Mario had an idea. "Hey, there's this festival going on here tomorrow; why don't you and Flavio come along? It would be great for everyone to see you."

Luigi smiled, but that smile quickly vanished, and he looked at Mario with a cheerless face. "I really would like to go, Mario," Luigi said apologetically, "But Flavio said he wanted to leave pretty early tomorrow morning. "I'm really sorry…"

Mario was disappointed, but smiled and waved his hand in front of him as if he was shooing Luigi away. "Go, it's alright. I just didn't think you would be leaving so soon. Luigi smiled, still looking like he really would go if he had the chance. "It'll probably be a real bore, anyway," Mario added.

"I wish I could see everybody, though," Luigi sighed. He looked up at the clock and then stared at Flavio still body. "Well, I think we better get back to the ship. It's getting pretty late." Luigi stood up, picked up Flavio, and said his goodbyes with Mario. "I'm sure it won't be long before I'm back on the island."

"Bye, Luigi. Make sure to write whenever you get the chance."

"We'll be seeing each other really soon, Mario. I know it." And with that, Luigi walked away, and Mario couldn't help but remember that Luigi was never a man of his word.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Espiritu Festival**

Mario went to bed as soon as he got home. Everyone else in the house was already sleeping, including Toadsworth, who had made an annoying habit of working on his novel and somehow making a lot of noise that often kept Mario awake at night. Mario slept soundly that night, however, but had strange dreams of Flavio dying and Luigi singing at his funeral. Mario didn't actually consider this a nightmare.

He woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to do something around town, but then he remembered the Espiritu Festival he was forced to attend. _Maybe if I act sick, I can get out of it,_ Mario thought _I just have to make sure Peach doesn't see that I'm-_

But it was already too late; Peach rushed into the room, looking like she was in a hurry to get ready for an event that didn't start for over an hour. "Oh good, you're awake," she said to him while putting on her shoes. "You've got to get ready. We're leaving in twenty minutes."

Mario, looking shocked, replied. "Peach, the Festival doesn't start for an hour. It takes what, twenty minutes to get there? And we're guests of honor, so we our seats are reserved."

Peach stopped getting ready and looked at him with a shocked expression. "That's exactly why we need to be there early, Mario," she told him. "Guests of honor need to be there before everyone else. The carriage is leaving in soon, and you're the only one not ready."

"Alright, just give me a minute." He showered, got dressed, and ran downstairs to eat breakfast, where he found Toad struggling to climb a stack of boxes next to the table. Mario could see that he was never going to make it to the top and was there to catch him when he slipped and fell down the mountain of cardboard.

"Woah, thanks a lot, Mario," Toad said with relief. "For a second there I thought I was a goner."

"No problem, Toad," he replied, setting him down and sitting down at the table to eat his breakfast. "What exactly were you trying to do?"

Toad took in a deep breath before he replied. "Well, Toadsworth insisted that Peach where this necklace to the Festival today that's still packed in that top box up there and he told me to get it and he thinks I've been slacking off lately but I told him I would get it. So… here I am, without the necklace." Toad began to walk away gloomily, but then turned around and looked at Mario with a smile. "Hey, you think you could get it for me? And maybe you could tell Toadsworth that I was the one to get it?"

"No problem Toad," Mario said happily.

"Great…Oh, and tell him I almost died getting up there, you know, make me heroic." He walked away, and Mario snickered to himself, thinking that the words "heroic" and "Toad" would probably never be used by Mario in the same sentence.

After retrieving the necklace, Mario joined the others in the carriage, where he gave Peach the necklace and was interrogated by Toadsworth. Mario told Toadsworth that Toad had obtained the necklace all by himself, although it seemed dangerous and was pretty sure Toad had almost died. Toadsworth didn't seem convinced. "I didn't actually think he would get it," he told Mario, "He's just been slacking off lately, and I wanted to give him some impossible task to do just to get back at him. But I guess I was wrong…" He now directed his attention towards Peach and began asking her how she was feeling. "Are you sure you feel alright, Princess?" he asked her; Toadsworth could not give up the habit of referring to her as "Princess". "You look pale; we could turn this carriage around right now and I could tell Allegro that you weren't able to attend"-

"For the tenth time Toadsworth, I'm not sick," Peach interrupted. She would often tell Mario how overly catious Toadsworth was whenever he wasn't around. He finally stopped talking, and the ride went by much quicker because of it.

Mario didn't know exactly where this celebration was, but the Pianta controlling the carriage was taking them to a part of the island where he had never been. They had went off the main road a long time ago and were now traveling through the jungles of Isle Delfino, and Mario didn't see a place where there could be a large gathering.

Almost instantly, the carriage arrived at a large clearing in the middle of the jungle. There was a small crowd of people surrounding a large stone platform where a few people were sitting down, and right in front of them was an altar, and a cloth covered what could only be The Great Espiritu. Mario thought that the platform was where he and Peach would be sitting as well, and he was correct. He followed Peach towards the stone platform, with Toadsworth walking behind him. The group shook hands with many familiar people. There was Allegro Pianta, leader of the Pianta tribe, who was one of the biggest Piantas Mario had ever seen. He nearly picked up Mario with a warm hug and thanked him for coming to this gathering.

"This event is very important to our culture," Allegro informed him. "Almost every citizen on the island attends."

"Well," Mario lied, "It sounds like a very exciting occasion." He then shook hands carefully with Saggio Noki, the leader of the Noki tribe. He was probably the oldest person on Isle Delfino, and Mario was always afraid that he was going to break him whenever he was near him. "It's very nice to see you again, Saggio."

"Yes, nice," Saggio repeated, before walking away and greeting others silently. Mario never knew Saggio to be much of a talker.

By the time Mario, Peach and Toadsworth had finished greeting the rest of the guests of honor, the crowd surrounding the platform was much larger than before, and it was clear that the festival was about to begin. Mario sat down in between Peach and a female Pianta he was not familiar with. Allegro and Saggio were the only two people left standing; they stepped forward, faced the enormous audience, and made a gesture for them to quiet down.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Allegro began loudly, "May I have your attention please, for the celebration is about to begin." The crowd cheered loudly, and Mario turned to Peach, still not knowing what this festival was really about.

"So, what exactly is The Great Espiritu?" He asked her.

"Well," Peach replied, still listening to Allegro' speech, "The spirit represents the unity between that Pianta and Noki; apparently they weren't always friends with one another."

"So the festival celebrates the day when peace was formed between the two groups?"

"Exaclty."

Satisfied, Mario looked at Allegro, who seemed to be telling the audience exactly what Peach had just told him. Mario never liked hearing the same thing twice, so he began searching the crowd for Luigi. He didn't expect to see him, but he thought that there just might be a chance that he had changed his mind about coming.

"Mario, are you even paying attention?" Toadsworth asked him from the other side of Peach, noticing that Mario seemed to be in another world. "This spirit is only revealed once a year, you know. It's actually quite exciting, if you think about it…"

Mario didn't respond, but could not think of any reason why this would be exciting. He desperately continued to look for Luigi.

"…And now, the moment you have all been waiting for," Allegro announced. "My dear friend Saggio and I will now unveil The Great Espiritu, the representation of the peaceful lives we all live!"

The crowd roared with pleasure, and it was at that moment that Mario saw him. Standing in the back of the audience, cheering with everyone else, was Luigi. Mario could not believe it; he waved towards him, but apparently Luigi was caught up in all of the excitement that Mario did not have. He was still trying to get Luigi's attention when the crowd went silent; Mario stopped waving at this and looked at everyone in the audience, who all had shocked looks on their faces. He had no idea what had just happened.

He turned to Peach. "Uh, what's going on?" he asked her.

"Mario, look!" she yelled.

Peach was pointing to the altar where the covered Espiritu had just been, only now it was not covered, and Mario now saw why the crowd had gone silent. There was a small glass box on the altar, but The Great Espiritu was nowhere to be seen.

_Way to not pay attention_, Mario thought to himself.


	3. Chapter 2

Ok so I released chapters 2 and 3 together because separately they are not really moving the plot along quite yet, but together I feel they will answer at least a few questions about the mystery so far. After chapter 3, the story really picks up and more action takes place, so please read and review these chapters for now!

Oh and chapter 2's title is completely random (I couldn't think of anything else to call it).

**Chapter 2: Chicken Breast and a Bee's Nest**

There was no celebration after the unveiling of the missing spirit; Mario assumed that there usually was, but nobody seemed who attended the gathering was in the mood to celebrate under the circumstances. . The ride home was mostly silent, but all Mario could think about was where Luigi had gone. He had tried to find him after the festival was over, but had no luck. Mario seemed to be the only person in the carriage who wasn't upset.

"I don't believe this!" Peach exclaimed, "Who would take something so precious!'

Mario wasn't really listening, but responded nonetheless. "Yeah, it's awful. Did you guys see Luigi there?"

Peach looked at him, realizing that he wasn't really interested in the spirit, but decided not to nag him about it. "Luigi was there? I didn't see him; I thought you said he was leaving early this morning?"

"I guess he changed his mind."

Mario was hoping Luigi would come to the house, just to see everyone, just to prevent himself from being a stranger to Peach and the Toads. But when he stepped out of the carriage and looked at Toadstool Manor, Luigi was not there waiting; there was only Toad and Toadette, who were using a ladder to get a bee's nest out of a tree.

"I'm gong to go into town," Peach told Mario. There's a few things I have to pick up"-

"Princess!" Toadsworth shouted, "Do you really think it's a good idea to wonder the streets alone after what just happened."

Peach rolled her eyes at him. "Toadsworth, I think I'll be able to handle myself," she told him, "But if you insist, you can come along with me." Toadsworth, hesitated, acting like he really didn't want to go, but didn't see a way of getting out of it after what he had just said to her. "I'll try and be back as soon as I can," she told Mario, "But tell the Toads to get lunch ready after they…um…"

Just then, Toad and Toadette ran by, followed by a swarm of bees. "Lunch, got it!" yelled Toad as he went by. "Just thought we'd try and get these bees away from the house. AAAHHHH!"

"Ok, I'll see you when you get back," Mario said, and he walked into the house while Peach and Toadsworth were driving away. As he walked through the kitchen, Mario realized that he was too hungry to wait for Toad and Toadette to prepare lunch, and he decided to make his own. Ever since Mario had started living with Peach, he had become more and more dependent on the Toads doing things for him, and he hated himself for it.

He pulled a large chicken breast out of the refrigerator and cooked it, even though he had no idea what he was doing. After waiting impatiently for what seemed like an hour, Peach walked into the kitchen, followed by Toad and Toadette, who were covered in bee stings. The pair ran upstairs to get cleaned up, while Peach walked towards Mario and dropped her grocery bags on the table. "Um, Mario," Peach began, "What's that smell? Is something burning?"

Mario got up. He smelled it too. The chicken he had been cooking for so long was on fire. He got a pail of water and threw it on the wasted meat, realizing that he should probably let Toad or Toadette do all of the cooking from now on.

"Don't worry," Peach told him while she was chuckling, "I bought stuff for sandwiches."

After Peach put away all the groceries, the couple prepared sandwiches and sat down at the table across from each other. "I don't believe this," Peach said to Mario, "Do you know what everyone around town is saying?" She took a bite from her sandwich, but it was clear that the question she had just asked was not rhetorical. Mario thought it was, however.

"Well, I was talking to a Pianta fruit seller on Pineapple Street," Peach informed him, "And she told me that a lot of Piantas think the Noki are responsible."

Mario chuckled slightly. "So this day is actually pulling the tribes apart, instead of bringing them together?"

Peach smirked at this. "Apparently," she replied. She finished her sandwich and walked towards the refrigerator to get a drink. "I really hope this doesn't get serious. That Pianta also told me that the Noki suspect they were the ones who stole the spirit. I guess the only way for this conflict to be resolved is to"-

-"Find The Great Espiritu," Mario finished. "I don't think it would be somebody on the island; they all seemed way too into the whole festival. If you ask me, the spirit isn't even on the island."

Peach smiled at him. "Oh really?" she asked. "Well, who is going to bring it back? You?" Mario looked at her surprisingly. Was she being serious?

"Me? Of course not. I've already told you that my old life is over. This is my life now, sitting down with you and"-

But Mario stopped talking when he heard somebody enter the kitchen. He turned around and nearly jumped out of his chair. To Mario's amazement, Luigi had just walked in.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 4: Diavolo's Debt**

Bowser was running anxiously down a dark alley way in the middle of the night. He didn't know exactly where he was, but knew that he had to be there. He had done what he needed to do, and Bowser wanted back what was his.

_He better not have hurt my son_, Bowser thought to himself. _If that bastard did anything to Bowser Jr...I'll kill him…_

But Bowser hoped that it wouldn't come to that. The man, or whatever he was, was just too powerful to mess around with, Bowser now realized. He just hoped that his son was OK. He had stolen the Espiritu or whatever it was called; he just wanted this to end.

Suddenly, a voice sounded from above him. "Stop right there, Bowser!"

_Oh god, he's here!_ Bowser said to himself. _He better have brought Jr. along with him_. It was too dark to tell…

"I have what you want, Diavolo," Bowser told him, "Just give me back my son and leave my family alone!" Diavolo suddenly appeared in front of him. Bowser jumped when he saw him; he never did get used to his appearance.

Diavolo was not a living person; he was a black, floating ghost, Bowser thought, but he was not positive. The one thing he did know what that the thought of him scared Bowser to death.

"Be patient, Bowser," Diavolo replied while walking around him, "You will get you want as soon as I have what I need. Give me the spirit now!"

Bowser was about to give it to him when he thought of something. "I want to see my son first."

"You will see your son when you give me the spirit. Now!"

Bowser hesitated, but knew that there was no way that he could bargain with Diavolo. He pulled the caged spirit out of his pocket and handed it to Diavolo. He smiled and began to walk away. "Now you know what happens when you don't pay me on time, Bowser. But I'm glad you didn't. Now there will be nobody who can stop me. My plan is flawless."

Bowser couldn't help himself. "What is it that you plan on doing with that?"

"Silence!" replied Diavolo. "It doesn't concern you!"

Bowser didn't ask again, but didn't leave just yet. "What about my son?" Diavolo looked at him as if he might hit him, but instead started thinking to himself.

"Hmm…" he thought to himself, "I will give you your son back if you come with me. Unless…"

"Unless…Unless what?" Bowser asked him eagerly.

"You sounded interested in the little plan I have. I can let you in on it, but then again I can't give you back your son right now. He will stay with us if you join me, and I promise that he won't be harmed. What do you think?"

Bowser wasn't sure about Diavolo; he had taken his son, after all. But then again he did owe that debt to Diavolo and didn't pay it; what would he himself have done? "What's in it for me?" Bowser asked curiously?'

"You know what's in it for you!" Diavolo replied. "All the money and power you could ever dream of! Know are you in or out, I must know now!"

Bowser thought about it, but knew exactly what he was going to say. Had he ever turned down an offer for money and power? Would anyone? "I'm in," he told Diavolo.

"Good, now follow me," Diavolo said, "We have a lot of work to do, and a lot of things to discuss."

Bowser followed, not really knowing what he was getting himself into.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Aboard the S.S. Avido**

Mario could hardly believe what he was doing, and didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Earlier that day, Luigi had come to there house, but not to sit down and catch up with Mario and Peach. He came to ask Mario If he would join Flavio's crew and help them find the Great Espiritu. At first, Mario didn't know what to say.

Although he didn't say it out loud, Mario could actually see himself sailing the high seas with his brother, together on an adventure like they used to be. Then he thought about Peach, and realized that he couldn't leave her alone on the island. "I really would," began Mario, "But I can't just pack up and leave Peach!"

Peach surprise him, however, when she disagreed with his decision. "Mario, I really think you should go," she told him, "It would be great for you to get away for a while. And I don't want you to feel like I'm keeping you here either. You have my support.

After hearing this, Mario couldn't find a reason why he shouldn't go. He went upstairs, packed his bags, and told the Toads goodbye before leaving.

"Oh, Mario!" Toadetter exclaimed, tears running down her cheeks, "Be careful, and I hope you find The Great Mosquito!"

"You idiot!" Toad yelled, "It's called The Great…um… Espresso?"

Mari laughed at them. "I'll try and find The Great Espiritu, and I'll be careful. See you guys when I get back!" Mario walked down the stairs with his luggage, where he found Luigi, Peach, and Toadsworth waiting for him.

"Do be careful, Master Mario," Toadsworth advised, "I will make sure that the Princess stays safe while you're away."

Thanks, Toadsworth," Mario replied, and he walked towards Peach and gave her a hug. "I'll try not to be gone too long, Peach," he told her.

" I know, Mario," she retorted, a tear streaming down her face, "But I really want you to find that spirit! I mean think of the joy you'll bring back to the people of this island!"

He told her he would try, and then walked out the front door and away from Toadstool Manor with Luigi, while Peach, Toadsworth, Toad and Toadette waved goodbye.

So here he was, walking down the streets of Ricco Harbor with Luigi and discussing their upcoming adventure.

"We're meeting Flavio and the crew at dock six," Luigi told Mario, "He won't believe that you decided to come with us!"

Mario smiled at him, and decided that he should ask Luigi a few questions before they got on the ship. "So who exactly is the crew? How many people are there?"

"Not too many," Luigi responded, "We're here though, so I'll let you find out for yourself. This is the ship, Mario: The S.S. Avido!"

Mario looked at the ship; it was ugly, old, and not very big. It reminded Mario of a pirate ship, but then he realized that it probably was. He followed Luigi on to the puke brown boat, and when he walked into a room labeled "Flavio's Quarters" Mario started to regret coming on this journey with Luigi. The inside was just as dingy and dirty as the outside, and Mario saw six people standing around Flavio's desk. Flavio was one of them, and Mario assumed that the rest were what Luigi called "the crew."

"Ah, Mario!" Flavio exclaimed, "You actually decided to come. Well, no time to waste; I was just telling the crew where we will be going, and I guess I should tell you to. Not too far from Isle Delfino is Foschia Island, a place known for criminals and for the places where they hide. Now me and Luigi must get the ship ready; You can stay in here and meet the rest of the crew."

Luigi followed Flavio out of the door behind him, leaving Mario with five very odd-looking people. Mario would have never guessed that they would want to sail on a ship.

The first people Mario talked to were two dry bones who looked like twins (but then again, all of them look alike). "Hey, I'm Mario," he told them.

"What did he say, Pelle?" asked one of the dry bones. Sorry, Mr. Mario, but I'm deaf."

"He just told us his name was Mario. What does he look like, Osso?"

Mario figured that Pelle was blind, and was correct. "Well, he's short," began Osso, "Blue overalls, red shirt, and sort if chubby…"

"Hey!" shouted Mario. "Well, it was nice to meet you guys." And he walked away from them and towards a short, skinny, female Toad with blonde, messy, curly hair. "Hi, I'm Mario. Are you coming with us?"

"Why are you asking me that?" asked the Toad angrily. "Just cuz I'm a girl, huh? Well I'm Bella Toad, and I could take you any day! It's nice to meet you, Mister Mario.

"Um…right." Mario was very nervous that everybody on the ship was absolutely crazy besides Luigi. After meeting the last two members of the crew, Mario realized that he was right. Koopen Koopa was the gloomiest person Mario had ever met, and Mario wasn't quite sure why he was here. The last person was Curoso, a small, young goomba who seemed so excited to be on board that he might wet himself.

"I'm from Isle Delfino, too!" Curoso exclaimed, "Isn't it great to be here?"

"Yeah….great," replied Mario. He decided to walk out of the room and to the deck, thinking that he might go crazy if he stayed in Flavio's quarter's any longer. When he opened the doors to the deck, he realized that they were now out in the open ocean, and that it looked like a storm was on its way.

"Mario, get back inside!" Luigi yelled, also on his way back in. A storm is coming, a bad one!"

"What? What does that mean? Where's Flavio?" Luigi turned around and realized that Flavio wasn't behind him. Mario could feel drops of rain falling down from the sky, more frequently every second.

"Oh no! He was right behind me a second ago! He must have got held back!"

"I'll go get him, you go inside," Mario yelled; they could barely hear each other now that the rain was falling down so hard. Mario ran to the front of the ship, where he found Flavio on his knees looking for something. "Flavio, what are you doing! We need to get inside now!"

"Go, Mario, just go!" Flavio shouted, "I just dropped my lucky coin, I'll be right behind you!" Mario couldn't believe Flavio was risking his life just for a coin.

"Flavio, leave the damn coin and"-

But he didn't get to finish his sentence. Just then the boat began rocking back and forth uncontrollably, and Mario couldn't keep his balance. He tripped over his own feet, hit his head on the boat's railing, and fell to the ground.


	6. Chapter 5

_**A/N**Sorry I haven't updated lately, but as you will see, this chapter is longer than all of the ones before it put together. I'm finally getting reviews from a lot of you, and I hope this chapter pleases you as did the other ones. You may also have noticed that I changed the title of the story to just The Great Espiritu, which sounds much better than the other title. So I hope you like this chapter, and continue to send in your reviews, as they help me greatly. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 5: Peach's Dilemma **

Peach hated the feeling of being useless. Ever since she was little, she always hot involved in all sorts of clubs and societies that made her very popular throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. By the time she was nineteen, people liked her so much that her parents, King James and Queen Isabella Toadstool, decided to crown her Princess Peach, giving her more power and authority that she hadn't had before. On the day of the ceremony, however, everything went terribly wrong.

At first, Peach thought this was going to be the best day of her life; hundreds of people came to watch the ceremony, and her parents had made sure Peach got everything that she wanted, even her own parade. When she walked onto the large, grassy courtyard, even Peach thought her parents had overdone it. There were hundreds of guests, thousands of balloons, and fireworks going off above them, even though it was daytime. She could see her parents waiting for her on the stage, and Peach realized that she was ready; she walked towards the stage, knelt down in front of her parents, and listened to them give a speech that was usually given before crowning someone prince or princess. Peach would never forget the last part, said by her father.

"…Today is the day when your true responsibilities begin. It is now your job to protect the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, and therefore you must do everything in your power to keep peace and give justice to all those who inhabit this beautiful land. Do you promise to do what you can for your kingdom?"

"I do," the nineteen-year-old Peach replied. And just like that, she was crowned Princess Peach.

It was during the parade when this great day also became the worst of Peach's life. She rode in the float that led the parade. Peach had asked to ride in a float with her parents, but they insisted that she ride in a separate float that lead the parade. Peach agreed, and found it quite enjoyable to see all of the attention on her.

They were in Toad Town when it happened. Peach was waving at all of the fans when a Bullet Bill flew past her and hit the second float, the one that her parents were on. She would never forget the day her parents were killed.

_How long ago had that been?_ Peach asked herself.

_It seems like only yesterday…_

She wasn't princess of Mushroom Kingdom anymore, but the qualities that came with the job would never leave her. She had to do everything in her power to make sure that peace was brought to Isle Delfino, and she knew that staring at the beautiful view from her bedroom porch was not resolving anything. She way be stuck on the island, and she may not be princess, but Peach knew that she had to do something.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

"Toad, Toadette," Peach said, walking into their quarters, where the two were currently playing checkers, "I need you to send these letters out right away." She handed the two letters to Toad, who looked at to whom the they were addressed to and looked at her oddly.

"Allegro Pianta and Saggio Noki?" Toad asked, "What do you need to write to them about?"

"I really don't think that's any of your"-

"Is it about The Great Esparto?" Toadette questioned.

"Those letters need to get to their recipients now! It's very important. I have a carriage waiting for you outside. Go, now!"

She didn't have to ask again. The two Toads ran by her and out of the room without saying a word. Peach went back to her bedroom; she hadn't even realized how late it was and that it may have been a bit harsh for her to have sent Toad and Toadette out this late. The letters, however, were very important. Within the next few minutes, Peach had fallen on to her bed and fell fast asleep within seconds.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Peach woke up the next morning feeling rejuvenated and ready to do what she needed to do. She showered, dressed herself in a pink skirt and light pink sleeveless turtleneck, and went downstairs to eat breakfast. Peach walked into to kitchen to see Toad and Toadette already preparing bacon and eggs, and sitting at the table was just the person she wanted to see: Toadsworth.

"Good morning, Princess," Toadsworth said to Peach, "Have any plans for the day?"

"Actually, Toadsworth, I do," she stated, "Today I'm scheduled to meet Saggio and Allegro to discuss the Espiritu conflict. You know, to make sure what I heard from some of the townspeople isn't true. Anyway, I was hoping that you would accompany me."

Just by the look on Toadsworth's face, Peach could tell what his response to this was. "This is fantastic!" Toadsworth exclaimed, "Great idea, Princess; I'm sure hearing from the leaders of the tribes will give us a better idea of what exactly is going on. At what time will we be departing?"

"Well," Peach began, "I'm supposed to be meeting Allegro at his house in Delfino Plaze in an hour. We can leave right after I eat.

At these words, Toadette threw a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her and she and her brother ran upstairs while Peach began to eat. Toadsworth looked surprised at how fast she was swallowing down her food, and within minutes Peach was grabbing her umbrella and yelling upstairs, telling Toad to watch the house while they were gone. Toadsworth ran to catch up to her and followed her out the door.

The usual carriage was there to pick them up, and Peach looked out the window at the streets of Ricco Harbor; the first thing she noticed was that no Piantas were socializing with the Noki, and vice versa. It seemed as if Peach's worst fears had been realized. She wished Mario would come home soon.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Peach's private boat dropped her and Toadsworth off at the docks in Delfino Plaze, which were overlooked by the Grand Pianta Statue. The Noki seldom visited the island's capital, so the overall vibe was a lot happier here. The pair strolled down the streets, waving at friends and acquaintances, until they reached Allegro's villa, a large house along the water and adjacent to the Shine Gate. Before she could even knock, Allegro opened the door with a warm smile.

"Lady Peach, it is a pleasure," announced Allegro, "Please, come in." Peach and Toadsworth followed him through the door; the rooms inside were slightly crowded, but the hallways were wide enough for Allegro's large figure to walk through. He lead them to the living room, a yellow room filled with plants and pictures, where a woman Peach knew to be Allegro's wife was already sitting on a comfortable blue chair.

"Peach, Toadsworth," Allegro began, "You've met my wife, Esperenza."

"Nice to see you again, Esperenza," Peach gestured. The female Pianta smiled and gave Peach an awkward hug.

"Likewise, Princess. Please, sit down and have some tea."

The group sat around the table and sat in the big, comfortable chairs and began to chat. When Allegro began to discuss stories of the past, Peach was beginning to think that the Espiritu was one of the last things on his mind. It was the only thing everyone it town was talking about, but he wouldn't even mention.

"…And you should have seen the look on Esperenza's face, Allegro said, continuing a story, "When the little Noki ran right into her prize pineapple!" The couple started to howl with laughter and Toadsworth chuckled, but this was not what Peach was here for.

"I'm sure the stories could go on, Allegro," Peach told him, "But you know that's not why I'm here. I've come to discuss toe incident involving The Great Espiritu."

"Ah," Allegro replied softly, realizing that he could avoid the subject no longer, "So I thought. But what is it that you want to discuss involving it?"

Peach was shocked at this. Everyone around town was so worried about where it was; why was Allegro so calm?

"Well," retorted Peach, "We don't know where it is, or who has it. What are you doing to find it?"

Allegro shifted in his seat and replied as calmly as ever. "Is there anything we can do? I can't send people out looking for something if we haven't got a clue where it is." He paused for a second and looked at Esperenza. "I don't know what you've been hearing around the island, but"-

-"Yes, I've heard the story about the Noki taking it for themselves," Peach interrupted, "And it sounds to me like people are just looking for someone to blame."

"Does it?" Allegro asked her, "Does it really sound that far-fetched? The Noki make a move for power by stealing the one object that keeps our tribes together. It has its flaws, but not a bad plan if you ask me."

Peach couldn't believe what she was hearing. Allegro, you can't be serious!"

"Oh Peach, you've got to look at the big picture here. I'm sure you've noticed that there's barely anywhere on the island where the two groups intermingle. We keep to ourselves, and have a little festival to show we're united even though we never were. There was never any need to hate one another. Until now."

All of the sudden, Peach stood up, clearly hearing enough from the Pianta. "I think it's time we get going, Toadsworth" she announced, "We're supposed to be meeting Saggio shortly."

Allegro laughed. "Do you really think the old Noki will think anything different?" he asked her, "I know what the Noki think about this, and I really don't think there's anything you can do to stop it."

Peach began to walk out of the living room, realizing that this meeting didn't go the way she planned. Toadsworth followed her, but acknowledged the Piantas as he left. "Goodbye, Allegro. Nice seeing you again, Esperenza," he said awkwardly.

"Come along, Toadsworth," shouted Peach as she walked out the door, "We've really got to get going." He caught up to her, and the two walked back towards the docks.

"That could have gone much better, eh?" Toadsworth inquired.

Peach didn't answer.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Peach and Toadworth never got a chance to meet with Saggio Noki. After a long boat ride to Noki Bay, the two made the even longer journey up to Saggio's cottage long the waterfall to find that he was not home. _It was short notice_, Peach told herself, _He probably already had plans._

She was now on her boat heading back to Ricco Harbor with Toadsworth, who was still breathing heavily from the long, pointless walk. "Well…Princess…" Toadsworth began, "At least… you… tried."

Peach looked at him with a small smile. "I just can't believe Allegro; how can he think that the Noki are responsible? I just hop that Saggio isn't as easily convinced…"

Toadsworth sat up straight, finally catching his breath. "I wouldn't worry about old Saggio, Peach. I've known him for quite a long time, and he is never one to point fingers. Then again, I didn't think Allegro was, either."

Just then, the boat pulled into Ricco Harbor. Peach thanked the driver and stepped off onto the dock, Toadsworth right behind her. "If you don't mind, I'd like to stop by Shelly's Fish Market before we get home," Peach told him, and he agreed, expressing his love for the food.

It took them only minutes to reach the store in the nicer part of town; Toadsworth said he would stay with the carriage while she went in, and Peach obliged. "I'll only be a few minutes," she said to him.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Not being as young as her used to be, Toadsworth knew he had walked enough for one day. He waited patiently while Peach was inside the market, a small store owned by a large, humble Pianta named Shelly.

Toadsworth looked out the window of the carriage; the streets were quiet, but packed with people. _Was The Great Espiritu causing the silence of these lively people?_ Toadsworth wondered. But all of the sudden, the streets were no longer quiet; people were screaming, but Toadsworth could not see what had happened. When he finally saw the cause of the commotion, it was too late. A young, blue-shelled Noki was running with a bomb in his hand, the fuse already lit.

"No!" Toadsworth shouted, as the bomb was thrown through the large window of the fish market.

Glass shattered…

People in the market screamed, not knowing what was about to happen…

The bomb exploded.

The carriage outside was blown to its side, but Toadsworth had fainted even before the bomb went off.

**A/N**_Sorry to leave you at a cliffhanger, but it's what keeps people excited for the next chapter! Speaking of the Chapter 6, it should be up within the next week, but I'm still adding the finishing touches. Please review and tell me how I could make this better!_


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **First, I'd like to apologize for the amount of time it took to upload this chapter. I've been busy and haven't had a lot of time to devote to writing, unfortunately. But now I'm back and happy to say that Chapter Six is finally here!

Second, I'd like to thank all of those who have reviewed my story. It is clear that a lot of you love the plot and overall story. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you. So enjoy, and tell you friends!

**Chapter 6: Foschia Island**

Mario slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see Peach lying next to him, sleeping in their spacious bed. But when all he saw was a small, ugly room and the small ugly cot he had been sleeping on, Mario realized that he was not home. Suddenly, he remembered everything.

The ship, the crew, the storm, the fall. _Oh, the fall!_ Mario thought, feeling the large bump on the right side of his head. But where was he now? He was hoping that he _Avido _had reached its destination, for Mario didn't think he could stay on this boat for another minute.

He jumped out of bed, grabbed his hat from the dirty, wooden floor, and walked towards the door. Just as he was about to open it, it screeched open from the other side and Luigi peered inside. He smiled at the sight of Mario.

"Hey, you're awake!" Luigi exclaimed, "We thought you might never wake up. Koopen kept telling us you were probably in a coma."

"How long have I been out?" Mario asked him, "Where are we?"

Luigi laughed. "Well, you missed the entire trip to Foschia Island. We just docked."

_Thank God_, Mario thought.

"You better get ready," Luigi informed him. "You, Flavio and I are going to go into town and see what we can find out about The Great Espiritu." And with that Luigi ran out of the room, leaving Mario to think to himself.

_Is this what it's going to be like the whole time? _He asked himself, _Mario, Luigi and the Drunken Pirate, together on a grand adventure?_ Mario didn't like the sound of that.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

"So Flavio, you still haven't told us what the island's like," Luigi stated, as he, Mario, Flavio and Bella were sitting around an old, wooden table in the _Avido_. "Is it like Isle Delfino?"

At these words, Flavio burst out laughing. "Well, my friend," he began, "Like on Isle Delfino, there are two 'tribes' on this island: criminals and prostitutes. There's never been one good person who came from this place."

Bella looked at Flavio with anger in her eyes. "You can't be serious!" she shouted, "You're saying that every woman on this island is a hooker!"

"I never said such a thing!" Flavio retorted.

"Oh," Bella replied apologetically.

"I also said they could be criminals," corrected Flavio. At this, Bella stood up, slapped Flavio right across the face, and stomped out of the room. "A feisty one, she is!" Flavio exclaimed, soothing the pain on his right cheek.

Mario actually found it quite amusing, but still wanted to get off of the boat. "Shouldn't we get going?" he asked his companions, "The longer we're out, the more of this beautiful island we get to see!" Only Luigi sensed the sarcasm in his voice.

"Ah, right you are, Mario!' Flavio replied. "Let's get out of here and start our adventure!" And, to Mario's delight, they did just that. The trio walked out on deck and took their first look at Foschia Island. At first sight, Mario didn't like the looks of this place any more than he did the _Avido._

Foschia Island made Rogueport look a five-star resort; the dock appeared as if it would collapse at any second, and the town, although in the distance, was covered in a thick layer of smog. The group walked on the docks carefully as Flavio told them about what they were going to do.

"There's an old friend of mine who we're meeting at Tina's Tavern," he informed them, "We'll ask him and his friends if they have heard anything about the robbery."

"Who exactly is this guy?" Mario asked, not thinking anyone associated with Flavio would be a reliable source, "I mean we really shouldn't trust anyone on this island, should we?"

Flavio took a second to laugh, but then replied, "Of course, Mario. But I think you'll find this person is very reliable. You introduced me to him, you know."

Surprised at there words, Mario almost stepped into a hole in the dock's walkway. "Did I?" he asked curiously, now wanting to know who it was they were meeting. But then Mario remembered what the people here were like; what criminals did he himself know?

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

The streets of Foschia Island didn't make Mario like the place any better; they were narrow, wet, and filled with dodgy people. Flavio didn't exaggerate about this place, he thought to himself, as he noticed women in short skirts and fishnets lining the streets like lamp posts. He could never see himself having a conversation with any of the people he walked by, and he was hoping he would never have to.

"Ah, here we are!" Flavio announced, stopping in front of a building that resembled all of the others. It was gray with dirty, broken windows, and the sign above them read **_Tia's Tavern_**. Flavio led them through the door and into the bar, a place that, to Mario, resembled the bar he had been in with Luigi and Flavio back on Isle Delfino. It was crowded, but he did see some familiar faces. Bella Toad was sitting around the bar arguing with a large, fat man with wooden legs. The blind Pelle and deaf Osso were celebrating with a big crowd of people. From what Mario could hear, the pair had won the team darts contest and the karaoke competition; how they did this, Mario had no idea. Curoso was among the crowd celebrating, looking happy just to be in a new place other than his home.

"So where's your...our friend, Flavio?" Mario questioned, looking around the bar. "I don't recognize anyone, mind the crew."

"Me neither," Luigi seconded.

Flavio led them through the bar, as if he saw the person he was looking for. "You don't really know him, Luigi. Mario and I met him in Rogueport while you were off on your own little adventure. Aha, here he is. Hello, Bobbery!"

Hearing this name, Mario searched around the nearby tables until he saw him. Admiral Bobbery was sitting at a large, round table with people Mario did not know. At first he was happy to see his old friend, but then he began to wonder what he was doing here. Was Bobbery back to his old pirating ways?

"Ahoy there, Flavio!" the old bom-omb shouted, "And look who came along! Mario, it's great to see you again boy!"

"You too, Bobbery," replied Mario, "I honestly never thought I would see you here." He, Luigi, and Flavio joined him at the table and were introduced to Bobbery's friends. Mario didn't find out their names, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to, for they looked like everyone else who walked the streets of Foschia Island. It wasn't long after that the topic of importance was introduced.

"So, Flavio," Bobbery began, "I've known you long enough to know that you're always after something; what is it this time?"

Flavio smiled and looked at his two companions. "Actually, Bobbery, that's exactly what we wanted to talk to you about. I don't know what you've heard, but a certain object of value has been taken from Isle Delfino"-

"Yes, The Great Espiritu," Bobbery interrupted.

"You know about it?" Mario asked him, hoping that Bobbery wasn't involved, "How do you know, exactly?"

Bobbery chuckled slightly. "How do I know? You'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to know about it by now! It's the talk of the island."

"Well," Luigi replied, "Are there any leads as to who might have taken it? Any names?"

"My boy, The Great Espiritu could be in the hands of anyone. The only thing I know for sure is that it's on this island somewhere. Or was, at least. A friend of mine, an old koopa, told me just yesterday he saw a large, cloaked figure carrying the Espiritu out of a boat. He's quite a reliable man if I say so myself, so I believe you've come to the right place."

_So Flavio was right after all_, Mario told himself, seeing that the captain had a smile on his face, probably thinking the same thing. "Any way we could talk to this koopa?" he asked Bobbery.

"There is, Mario," retorted Bobbery, looking at his friends, "My crew and I are actually going to meet him in his ship in about an hour. Captain Balboa, he calls himself. We are planning a voyage to Isla de Muerta together, so we're just making the final preparations before we set sail tomorrow. You're welcome to join us and talk to him about what he saw."

"So it's settled!" Flavio shouted, now on his second beer, "We'll go back to our ship and meet you all at the koopa's boat this afternoon!"

Everyone agreed, and Mario, Luigi and Flavio left Bobbery and crew and began to head back to the _Avido_. Mario was actually surprised that they had a lead already, or what seemed to be a lead at least. Did they actually have a chance of finding The Great Espiritu?

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

By the time the trio returned to their ship, Bella had prepared dinner for everyone. Mario probably would have thrown up if he was back at home eating this, but under the circumstances (he hadn't eaten all day), he ate the old, undercooked chicken willingly.

"How do you like it?" she asked them, looking as if she might slap anyone who said anything negative about her cooking, "Does it taste as good as it looks?"

"I think we can all agree on that Bella," replied Flavio, clearly just saying this to avoid getting hit again, "Except Pelle, who, in fact, doesn't know what the food looks like. I do believe that we better get going, however; is everyone coming?"

Mario answered, "I really don't think that's"-

"Ah, yes we will!" Belle interrupted, "I didn't join this crew just so I could cook for all of you!"

"Ok then," Flavio announced, "We'll leave Pelle, Osso, and Koopen to guard the ship while the rest of us meet Bobbery. Where is Koopen, anyway?"

"He was in our room last time I saw him!" Curoso reported happily, "All he ever does is sit in there and read. But anyway, let's get going!"

"That's the spirit, 'ma boy!" Flavio exclaimed, "Come on, everyone, we're getting closer to solving this mystery!"

Mario was happy that Flavio was willing to help them find the spirit. He had proved to be useful when it came to finding things, and Mario himself was beginning to rethink what he thought about the pirate. Mario, Luigi, Bella and Curoso followed him out of the ship and onto the rotting docks. Bobbery had told them that Balboa's ship was located at dock twenty-one, which was conveniently not too far from the _Avido_.

The group decided to invite themselves on board the ship, as no one was waiting for them on the docks. The boat was much newer and cleaner than Flavio's, so when Mario noticed a broken window outside of the Caiptain's quarter's, he knew that something was not right. He opened the door and realized his assumptions were correct.

"Oh my god!" Luigi yelled, shocked at what he saw, "What happened here?"

Everyone stared at the destroyed cabin in horror. A table was turned over and chairs were broken. Mario noticed scratch marks on the walls and blood on the floor; not too much blood, but blood nonetheless. It was obvious that there had been some sort of struggle.

"Curoso, search the ship!" Flavio demanded, "See if anyone is still here!"

The little goomba ran below deck, and the rest of them took a closer look at what had happened. Mario put the table back on its feet, and when he did this he revealed something familiar. It was a large, black eye patch. _Bobbery_, he said to himself.

"Hey Mario, take a look at this!" said Luigi.

Mario and the rest of the group walked over to the spot where Luigi was standing. He was holding a piece of paper with something written on it.

A name.

One name.

This one name was all Mario needed to know. It was the reason they had came to this boat in the first place. They were that much closer to getting back The Great Espiritu.

_BOWSER_

**Author's Note:** Another cliffhanger! But don't worry; chapter seven is likely to be uploaded on Wednesday. Please continue to give me reviews. Tell me what you like, don't like, and what I should change. I'm also making a forum on this story, so please post their as soon as I post topics. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** I've been away on vacation and apologize for how long it's taken me to upload the next chapter. It won't happen again (because I'm not going on vacation again), so from now on you can expect a new chapter every three or four days.

Let's just do a recap of what is going on:

Mario and co. have just found out that Bobbery and his crew along with Balboa have been captured, and that Bowser is somehow involved in the robbery of The Great Espiritu (But in chapter 4 we discovered that he not longer has it in his possession- Diavolo does). More will be discovered on this matter in chapter 8.

Bowser was revealed to be the one who stole The Great Espiritu, and he joins Diavolo in a plan that is yet to be exposed.

Peach was in a market when an angry Noki threw a bom-omb in the store window. What happens after this is where chapter 7 begins.

That's just something I thought I'd do to make sure readers know what's happening. Anyway, here's chapter 7; I hope you enjoy it. Read, Review, and tell you friends!

**Chapter 7: First Act**

A flash. An explosion. The screams. It was all too familiar to Princess Peach.

Years ago she had been through almost the same scenario when here parents were killed. She was told it was the bullet bill that destroyed the float, but years later the princess had discovered Bowser was the true culprit behind the murders. Ever since, Peach had held a grudge against him that she told herself she would never let go. The leaders of the Mushroom Kingdom, and her parents, had been taken too soon, and the kingdom had never been the same since.

Peach herself remembered walking through the destroyed float right after the explosion, hoping that she would find her parents alive. But when she finally found the King and Queen, it was clear that they had passed on. In fact, only one person on the float was found alive: Toadsworth. Since the incident, the old toad had considered it his duty to stay by Peach's side, for he told her it was what her parents would have wanted.

But back in the present, Peach found herself observing the explosion rather than experiencing it once again. She and one of the market employees had walked to the outer part of the store just before the bomb went off. Peach was knocked off her feet, but the large, light blue Pianta only staggered. Seconds after the blast, he ran over to Peach and offered her his hand. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Peach responded, still a little shaken up, "What happened in there?"

They both looked into the fish market; all they could see was smoke and broken glass. Nobody was coming out. Peach doubted anyone would.

"The only way out is through the front door," the Pianta told her, "We have to go in there. Are you ok?"

Peach told him she was fine and agreed, although she was somewhat frightened. Peach grabbed the Pianta's hand as they stepped into the disastrous building. They had trouble navigating through all of the wreckage, but Peach told herself not to look down because she was too afraid of what she might see. The entire market was covered in a thick layer of smoke, causing the pair to cough frequently, but they were eventually able to run through the other door, back to the bright streets of Ricco Harbor.

A crowd of people cheered as the two walked out in to the streets. One female Pianta ran up to them with a smile on her face; Peach knew they had met before, but she had forgotten her name. The Pianta, however, had not forgotten hers.

"Lady Peach, you're alive!" she shouted, hugging Peach and the Pianta employee. "The police didn't think anyone had survived! They're just about to go in there now, but it doesn't look very good in there at all. And the Noki that did this wasn't even caught…just awful…"

Hearing this, Peach looked at the Pianta curiously. "A Noki did"-

"And I even saw it happen," she interrupted, more talking to herself than Peach, "And I saw that little Noki run away, but I didn't even think about running after him. Of course I'm not as nimble as a used to be, but after he was gone I just felt awful that nobody had done anything to catch him. There's no catching him now."

"Yes, it is awful," Peach replied, "But you said something about a Noki"-

"And you should hear what everyone is saying!" The now annoying Pianta shouted, "They all think that this is the 'first act' on the Pianta tribe, like some sort of war is coming… Oh Princess, what do we do?"

"Well," began Peach, "Well…sorry, I can't seem to remember your name."

"Poblíz"

"Pobliz, there's really nothing we can do except hope nothing like this happens again. For now, I'd just like to go home and rest. Do you know where my carriage is?"

"Yes, I do!" Poblíz announced, "It was taken back to Toadstool Manor. From what I heard, Toadsworth was injured and they needed him to take him home right away. Hopefully he's ok..."

"Injured?" Peach asked, wondering what could have happened to her faithful servant, "Did you hear what happened?"

Poblíz shook her head, and told them that she had to get going back home to her kids. Peach thanked her before she turned around and walked away.

"I guess I'm walking home," said Peach.

"Please, let me take you home," the Pianta employee offered, "I don't think we've met before; I'm Giovanni. And you, of course, are Peach."

Peach shook his hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Giovanni. And yes, I would love it if you walked me home. You can stay for dinner, too."

"Great," he replied happily.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

The walk home was long, but Peach was glad to have company. They spent most of the time talking about the incident the two had just been through.

"This must be terrible for you," said Peach, "I mean you worked there and all."

"To tell you the truth," replied Giovanni, "I really wasn't close with any of the people who I worked with. It was terrible what happened, but I didn't lose anyone too close."

"That's good, I guess," said Peach, "Well here we are; Toadstool Manor."

They had just walked through the gates of the grassy front yard. Toad was not too far away, trimming hedges while whistling a tune. Peach led Giovanni up the walkway towards him. "Toad, Toad I'm here!" she shouted.

Toad jumped in surprise and fell off of the ladder he had been standing on. When he got up and saw Peach, toad screamed loudly and sprinted into the house with his hands in the air.

"Uh… what's wrong with him?" Giovanni questioned.

"I'm not sure," she told him. Peach hurried into the house, Giovanni following her. She threw open the oak front doors and saw Toad trying to tell something to Toadette in the living room, but he was out of breath and was not making any sense to her. When Peach closed the door, the siblings turned around and screamed once again.

"The ghost…her ghost is in the house!" Toad shouted in horror. Toadette just gasped and fainted. "Please," he continued, "I was going to finish washing the windows later today, I swear! Don't haunt me for it!"

"Toad, what are you talking about?" she asked him curiously, "I'm not dead."

Toad looked at her strangely, taking into consideration what she had just said. After walking towards her and touching her arm, he came to the conclusion that she was telling the truth.

"Oh Princess, you're alive!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down and hugging her. "Toadette, Toadette wake up! The Princess is alive!" Toad shook her, but his sister would not get up. "Oh, she'll be fine. Anyway, you've got to go upstairs and see Toadsworth right away! He's not doing too well, plus you're driver told him and us that you had died, so you better…you know… clear that up."

"Thanks Toad," said Peach, "Have dinner ready by six, but make sure Toadette is alright first. The last time she fainted she was out for hours. Oh, and we'll be having a guest tonight as well."

Peach and Giovanni climbed the large flight of stairs that led to the second floor, and walked down the long, wide hallway until they reached the last door to the right, the room that Toadsworth slept in. The door creaked softly as she opened it, and inside she found the elderly toad lying in his large, four-post bed, but he jumped nearly five feet when he saw her come in.

"Dear God!" Toadsworth cried, "Princess, you're alive! They told me no one had survived the explosion!"

"Yes, well whoever told you that was clearly wrong," Peach replied, walking towards Toadsworth's bedside with Giovanni, "We think that we were the only two who survived. But enough about us, what about you? Somebody told me you had gotten injured."

Toadsworth took a moment to cough and sigh, and the replied, "Well, I myself am not doing so well. The blast knocked the carriage over, and my old self got hurt very badly. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I took whatever that medicine was in the cabinet and it's just no helping. I don't know what do."

Peach looked at him sympathetically. "Don't worry, Toadsworth. I'm sure we can find something that can help you." She turned to Giovanni. "Do you know anyone around here who could help?"

"Well," Giovanni began, "Usually when the normal medicine doesn't work, people around here turn to someone else for a cure."

"Well who is he?" Peach asked.

"It's actually a she, and I don't know exactly what she 'is', but I do know that she always has something to cure anybody's anything, so she's the person you want to see."

"Excellent!" Peach exclaimed, seeing Toadsworth smile, "Could you take me there, Giovanni?"

"Me? I supposed I could. We should wait until tomorrow, though. It's gettin' pretty dark out."

"Of course we can't wait until tomorrow!" Peach retorted, "Toadsworth needs this medicine as soon as possible! Now are you going to take me there now or not?"

Giovanni hesitated, but eventually decided he would help Peach. "Alright, I'll take you. But you're askin' for a lot more than you think, and don't say that I didn't warn you."

"What are you so afraid of?"

"Me? I'm not afraid of anything. I'm just saying that this isn't as easy is it sounds."

"Ok," replied Peach, walked towards the door that led to the hallway, "But you sure seem hesitant about going to a place you're not afraid of." And with that, Peach walked out of the room, but soon enough Giovanni was right behind her. The two had just met, but Peach felt that they had gone through and were going to go through a lot together, and realized that this was going to be the start of a soon to be beautiful friendship.

**Author's Note:** Not so much of a cliffhanger, but believe me you'll want to find out what happens when they meet this "mysterious woman"._ **I can promise it will be one of the funniest and most important chapters yet**_Anyway chapter 8 should be out by Friday at the latest, so for now please review this and tell others about this story.

**P.S.** check out the forum I made for this story as well. It isn't getting much attention now, but I'm hoping if more people read the story I will start getting more posts.


	9. Chapter 8

**Authors Note:** I'm really ahead of schedule on this story, so I figure I'd post the next chapter early. Happy early birthday present, I guess you could say?

Anyway thanks to those who have been reviewing, and for those who haven't…what are you waiting for? Read this chapter and review right away! Here's chapter 8, I hope you enjoy it.

**Please Note:** It was brought up by a fan of the story that I am not characterizing Flavio and Bobbery correctly. In the games they were not nor were they ever pirates, and in The Great Espiritu they are said to be/ have once been. I gave these two characters different backgrounds than the ones given to them in the Nintendo games, and I hope none of you are bothered by this. For catching this error, I think you should all check out LadyBow8's story SS Flavion, along with the rest of her works. Now, let's get on with the chapter, shall we?

**Chapter 8: Back to the Tavern**

The crew of _The Avido_ had no luck finding anyone on Balboa's ship, but Mario knew exactly who he needed to find for answers. He had told the rest of the crew that if they wanted to find Bobbery and the others, they would have to first find the one person Mario could never get out of his life: Bowser. Flavio, saddened by the disappearance of his friend, announced that they would start searching for the beast the following morning.

When Mario returned to _The Avido_, he and Luigi immediately went below deck and into the room they shared to get ready for bed. Mario was still holding the piece of paper with Bowser's name of it. Luigi sat next to his brother on the bed and patter him on the back. "Don't worry, Mario. I'm sure we'll be able to find Bobbery and The Great Espiritu. Flavio knows a lot of people around here; one of them had to see Bowser."

"Yeah," Mario replied, "You know, at first I really didn't think Flavio was going to be this helpful. But we seem to be on the right track now."

Luigi stood up and placed his hat on a broken shelf. "Flavio's always been useful on our adventures. Why didn't you think he was going to help us? He's a good man, Mario."

"I don't think he's a bad person," Mario told Luigi, "But to me, he always seemed to care a little too much about himself and whatever he was after. At least that's what he was like on our other adventure, and"-

"Well maybe he's changed since then!" Luigi interrupted, "He's my friend, bro, and I wish you could see him as more than some kind of pirate. Well, I'm going to bed; see you in the morning." And with that, Luigi blew out the candle in the room and fell onto his bed. They didn't talk anymore, but Mario stayed up for much longer, thinking about how immature his brother was acting. _You don't care what Flavio's like, Luigi,_ he said to himself, _you just missed having me around, and jumped on board with the first person who you saw as a replacement for me. _

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Mario wasn't sure what time Flavio clumsily walked into their room, but he was pretty sure he hadn't been sleeping for very long.

"Flavio, what are you doing in here?" Luigi asked, also awakened by the noise, "It's still dark out!"

The captain lit the candle in the room and smiled at the brothers. "I know its early boys, but I figured we should get an early start today. We'll have more time to search for Bowser, plus we won't have to deal with the crew."

"Mario got up and grabbed his hat from the dresser. "Flavio, who's awake at this hour? The town has to sleep at some time."

Flavio gave the chuckle he always gave when Mario was wrong. "You're mistaken, Mario," Flavio told him, "The people in Foschia Island never sleep. What I mean is… the bars are never empty. Now let's get a move on, you two!"

Mario and Luigi quickly got dressed and followed Flavio to the upper decks of _The Avido. _They walked carefully by the rooms where the crew slept, as to not wake them up. Flavio was just about to go up a flight of stairs when Mario saw him trip right in front of him. Not knowing what had happened, Mario pulled a match out of his pocket and lit it. What he saw was actually quite amusing; Flavio had fallen flat on his face and was crushing Curoso, the person he had tripped over.

"Curoso, what are you doing up at this hour?" asked Luigi, who was helping Flavio up so the tiny goomba could breathe.

"I could ask you guys the same question," replied Curoso, "But I won't because I already know. Flavio woke me up when he walked by, and I overheard the conversation you just had with him. I'm going to come with you!"

"Flavio sighed, but knew that there was no way he could change the young goomba's mind. "Fine, you can come along too, young explorer. But be quiet so nobody else wakes up."

The four of them walked up the stairs and into the warm air that welcomed them outside. Their journey to town was mostly silent, spare the unanswered questions Curoso frequently asked regarding Bowser. Flavio recommended that they start at Tina's Tavern; for he knew many people there that he thought might be able to help them. The others obliged.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

The town seemed to be just as busy and dodgy at four in the morning as it was during the day, just as Flavio had said. Mario wanted to get out of the streets as soon as possible so he could avoid all of the evil stares he was getting from strangers. When they finally reached the tavern, Mario rushed in as if it had been raining outside.

"Ah, great crowd this morning!" Flavio announced, "Let's grab a drink, boys!"

Mario found that walking into a bar changed his behavior somewhat; the only thing we wanted to de before was find Bowser, but the second he walked into the bar, all he wanted was a drink. He led them to the bar and they all sat on old stools. Flavio was the only one to order a drink from the bartender and owner of the tavern, Tina Koopa. She quickly poured him a mug, and Flavio drank it just as fast. "Well, I'm going to go talk to some of my friends and question them about this Bowser fellow; you three can wait here until I return.

"Hey, wait a minute"- Mario began, but Flavio was already stumbling away, leaving he, Luigi and Curuoso at the bar. "Why does he have to go by himself?" asked Mario, "I mean why did he ask us to come in the first place?"

"He probably just wants to talk to his friends by himself," replied Luigi, "You know, without any distractions."

Mario watched as Flavio sat down with a group of goombas, ordering another beer from a waitress who had passed by him. "So is that what we are to him? Distractions?"

Luigi laughed. "No, it's not like that. He probably just thinks his friends will ask fewer questions if he's alone. You know what I mean?"

Mario turned back to the bar, where Tina was putting away clean glasses. "I guess that makes sense," he said to his brother, "But it really doesn't help our situation if he's drunk all the time."

Luigi snickered.

"Are you sure I can't get you boys anything?" asked Tina, "It looks like you could use a drink."

Mario and Luigi looked at the short, skinny koopa. "We're not here for a drink," Mario told her, "We're just looking for someone."

"Well then, you've come to the right place," Tina stated, setting down a glass she was cleaning and focusing her attention on them, "Hundreds of people come in here everyday, and I'm pretty good at remembering faces. Maybe I can help you find your guy."

"Well," began Mario, noticing that Flavio had moved to another table and was in the process of drinking yet another beer, "You wouldn't forget this guy if you saw him. He's about seven feet tall; a giant koopa with a spiked shell and"-

"Ah, say no more," interrupted Tina, "I know exactly who you're talking about. He was in here yesterday morning with a couple of his friends."

"Really?" asked Mario, glad that he had found information on Bowser before Flavio, "Who was he with?"

"He was sitting up here at the bar with a couple of koopas," answered Tina, now back to cleaning dishes, "They ordered a few drinks and talked for a while. I didn't hear much, but when they finished they ordered a room in the Tavern. I can give you the number, if you'd like it."

"Yeah!" shouted Luigi immaturely, "I mean yeah, that would be great, Tina. Thanks a lot."

Tina smiled as she told the brothers and Curoso that he was staying in room seven. "I really shouldn't be telling you boys this. I mean I doubt you're planning a happy reunion with this Bowser fellow. If there's gonna be problems, don't handle 'em in my tavern, alright?"

"Of course not," replied Mario, glad that they had finally cornered Bowser. "Do you know if he's in the room now?"

She answered them while pouring drinks for a group of piantas who had just sat down at the bar. "They left the bar around eleven o'clock yesterday, and I haven't seen them come back since."

Mario thanked her for the information, and then the trio stepped off of their stools and went to fetch Flavio. They found him at a large booth, enjoying what might have been his fourth beer with a boo and a bunch of bom-ombs. "Ah, master Mario!" the drunk sailor shouted, "I haven't found anything about that Bozo fellow yet, but I have a feeling I'm getting pretty close!"

"Don't worry about it, Flavio," retorted Luigi, "We've already found out where Bowser's staying, so let's get going!" Flavio, however, laughed hysterically before collapsing on the table he was sitting at. At that moment, Mario thought Flavio had never been so useless.

"Well then, I guess it's just gonna be the three of us," said Mario, and he led Luigi and Curoso towards the stairs that led up to the hotel. He saw his brother shakes his head at Flavio before walking away.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

The stairs creaked at Mario, Luigi and Curoso carefully walked up to the second floor of Tina's Tavern. Mario wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do once he reached Bowser's room, but then again he didn't even know for sure whether or not Bowser was in there. Curoso and Luigi were following him, hoping that he knew what he was doing, but when they reached room seven, the room Tina had told them Bowser was staying in, Mario just stood there.

"Should we go in?" Luigi asked, more saying that they should rather than asking, "Tina said they hadn't come back yet, so what have we got to lose?"

Mario was very hesitant about the whole situation. He wanted to know what Bowser was up to, but he didn't was to face the consequences. But when he saw the looks of curiosity and excitement on his companion's faces, the ex-plumber knew that there was no turning back now.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess we should go in," Mario replied, still a little nervous, "But I think Curoso should stand guard out here. You know, just in case."

"What!" Curoso should obnoxiously, "Man, I didn't come here just so I could"-

"Sh! Be quiet!" Mario interrupted, "You're staying out here. If you see anybody, especially Bowser, just whistle and we'll hide, or something.

Curoso looked extremely disappointed, but agreed to do his job. Mario thanked him, and nervously turned to the paint-chipped door once again. He put his hand around the rusty metal doorknob, and after looking at Luigi, Mario quickly turned the knob and swung the door open. He was hoping that this would be easy, that they would just find Bobbery and his crew tied up in chairs in a circle with The Great Espiritu in the center, but deep inside Mario knew that even Bowser was smarter than that.

The hotel room was dirty and messy, and at first sight Mario and Luigi could see nothing that connected Bowser with Bobbery's disappearance or the Great Espiritu's. There were papers scattered all over the room and the bed wasn't made; it was definitely a place where Bowser would stay, making Mario believe that they were on the right track.

"I guess we should look around," Luigi suggested, and he started by picking up a pile of papers and going through them. Mario walked towards the desk next to the oversized bed and opened its two drawers. They were both empty, except for a small gum wrapper in the bottom one. He then joined Luigi in searching through all of the papers, for there was nothing else in the room that would help them.

"Find anything?" asked Mario, not having luck himself after several minutes.

"Not really…" replied Luigi, "There's this, but I don't think it will help us much." He handed Mario a crumpled piece of paper, and he smoothed it out in order to read it.

_Three days, Bowser…_ were the only three words written on the paper, and Mario had no idea what they meant. "It doesn't make any sense, but it's better than anything I've found."

"Most of these papers have nothing to do with Bowser," said Luigi, "They're just pages from books and…hey, check this out!"

"What is it?" Mario questioned, taking the large, folded paper from Luigi and observing it. It didn't make much sense to Mario at first, but then he realized what it was: blueprints. To what, Mario did not know, but this was definitely something. Whatever it was the blueprints were made for, it was absolutely enormous. From what Mario could tell, it was bigger than Peach's old castle in the Mushroom Kingdom.

As good of a find as this was, Mario sighed. This wasn't answering any questions, just creating new ones. What exactly was Bowser planning?

Just then, Mario heard a small yelp from the hallway. He and Luigi looked at each other oddly. "What was that?" Luigi asked his brother.

They both stood up and looked at the door, right before it was kicked down by a person too familiar to Mario. It wasn't Curoso. It was Bowser, followed by a bunch of his koopa cronies. Outnumbered, Mario was a little nervous, and he could tell that Luigi was too.

"So Mario, we meet again," Bowser stated.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

**Author's Note:** I am sorry to say that due to circumstances that would bore you to sleep, I must go away once again, and I probably won't be back until Tuesday. Not to worry, though; chapter 9 will be up soon after I return, probably on Wednesday or Thursday. In the meantime, let me leave you with a little poll…

Like J.K. Rowling, one of my heroes, I usually kill off a main character at the end of a story, and The Great Espiritu (Part One) is no exception. Sadly, one of these six main characters will die by the end of part one:

-Mario

-Luigi

-Flavio

-Peach

-Toadsworth

-Bowser

Who do you think it will be? Please send me a PM (I want to keep answers private) telling me who you think will die. I'll post the results with Chapter 9: Tessa's Tale (Yes, that's right, I'm giving you the name of the next chapter!). Also, please review this chapter!


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** Hello readers, so sorry it's been this long since an update! One thing led to another, and I haven't had any time to post chapter nine. But finally, it is here at last. And I hope it doesn't disappoint.

I didn't get as much vote on the poll as I would have liked, so on the next poll I will just let you vote in the review instead of having to leave me a PM to vote. Make sure to vote on the next one, which you will read about at the end of this chapter. Anyway here are the results of last week's poll on who will die at the end of this story:

-Nobody who voted thinks Peach will be killed off. (0 of votes)

-Mario, Flavio and Bowser are all tied with 12 of the votes each.

- 25 of you think Luigi will die by the end of the story.

- And last but not least, Toadsworth has the highest number of votes (38)!

You can continue submitting votes for this poll. If I get votes, I will update it along with the other poll at the end of this chapter. Now, enjoy!

**Chapter 9: Tessa's Tale**

"I'm guessing this is no ordinary doctor, Giovanni," stated Peach. The Pianta had been leading her down a street when he abruptly turned to the right, down a small path that lead into the forest. She could see why Giovanni was so hesitant about visiting this place at night; the trees were densely packed, allowing no moonlight to shine through, which made the jungle seem like a dark abyss.

"Princess, how exactly are we supposed to see?" asked a small voice behind her. Toad and Toadette, walked with caution, acting like something might pop out and attack them at any second. Before leaving the house, Peach had requested that her two most faithful servants, Toad and Toadette, accompany her and her journey, leaving the other toads in the house to take care of dinner. The siblings had obliged happily to join her; now, however, they seemed less enthusiastic.

"Hold on," said Giovanni, and Peach could barely see Giovanni pull something out from a pocket of his green shorts. Seconds later, a match struck, and suddenly there was light.

"That's better," declared Toad, and he continued to follow the others down the narrow path.

From then on the journey was completely silent, except for the fact that every animal in the forest seemed to be hooting or buzzing or making some other kind of noise loudly. Peach tried to look calm, but on the inside she was panicking. She hated being in places unfamiliar to her, and this was about as unfamiliar as it got for her.

"How long until we get there, Giovanni?" Peach asked, trying to hide her nerves.

"Well," he began, also sounding somewhat frightened, "I haven't been down this way in years, but I think we should be there soon. There's nothing to worry about, Miss Peach. Nothing really…"

Peach didn't even respond. She was thinking about Mario; where he was, what he was doing, and if he was any closer to solving this mystery. She sure hadn't found anything out or helped resolve matters herself, but she had already decided what she was going to do next. She would visit the library the next morning to see what she could find out about The Great Espiritu and the island's history. _It's not much_, she told herself, _but it might help us find out who would want to take it. _

"Hey, what's that up ahead!" asked Toadette, pointing to a structure Peach couldn't quite make out, "It looks like a fence."

"Yes!" shouted Giovanni, now speeding up, "We're finally here! Follow me, everybody."

Peach ran behind him until they reached the small fence Toadette had pointed out. At first, Peach didn't know what the fence was made out of, but as she examined it more closely, she stepped back, appalled. The fence had been constructed out of some type of bones; Peach wasn't sure if she wanted to know what kind, and she was starting to wonder where exactly Giovanni was leading them.

"What is this place, exactly?" Peach asked Giovanni, examining the area enclosed in the fence. There was nothing there but a tall, wide tree fixed right in the center of the area.

"There's nothing here but a tree!" shouted Toad, folding his arms in disappointment, "How it this supposed to help Toadsworth?"

All Giovanni did was smile slightly at him, and then pointed his right index finger upward. Peach wasn't sure exactly what he meant, but when she looked up the large tree, she knew what he was pointing at. More than thirty feet above them, resting in the tree, was a small house. Peach couldn't tell much else about it, except that there was light coming from the shack, and there didn't seem to be anyway to get up there.

"Um, Giovanni, how just how do you plan to get up there?" she asked the Pianta, "I don't think there's any way I'll be able to climb this thing."

"Don't worry," he replied, "You won't have to." He then hoisted himself over the bone fence and hopped into the enclosure. Peach didn't know what he was doing, but Giovanni seemed pretty sure of himself. He walked right up to the tree and slammed his fist on the bark three times. At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds a long rope ladder fell from the house and down to the dirt floor. Peach smiled at Giovanni, realizing that he was a very useful person to travel with.

"Well that helps!" Peach exclaimed, also climbing over the fence to join Giovanni, "Toad, Toadette, come on!"

The toads, however, stayed on the outside of the fence. "Actually, Princess," began Toad, "I really don't think there's any way I'm making it up there, even with that ladder."

"Yeah, me neither!"

"Well you better climb over this fence at least," replied Giovanni, "Who knows what could get you out there."

Peach wasn't sure if the Pianta was being serious, but Toad and Toadette weren't taking any chances. They both jumped over the fence awkwardly and landed on their backs. They stood up quickly and ran over to the rope ladder.

"I guess one of you could hold onto my back," Giovanni told them. Instead of deciding who would do this, both toads lunged for Giovanni, but Toadette was able to grab hold of his neck first.

"Ouch! Don't choke me!" shouted Giovanni, "Sorry, Toad; there's no way I could carry both of you."

"Your loss," Toad informed him, "I weigh less."

"Hey!" shouted his sister.

"Come on guys, let's get going," said Peach, and she was the first to grab on to the rope ladder and start climbing. She was followed by Giovanni, and Toad brought up the rear.

Peach was surprised at how out of shape she was; she hadn't even reached the halfway point of the climb and already her arms and legs were beginning to ache with pain. _You can do this_, she told herself, thinking of how tough a time Toad must be having with this. Peach began smiling when she started hearing Toad repeat the words "don't look down" over and over again.

After what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes, Peach was finally able to pull herself to the small deck outside of the house, and when she got her whole body up, she practically collapsed in front of the small wooden door. Moments later, Giovanni hoisted himself onto the deck with Toadette on his back and, to Peach's surprise, Toad holding onto his right foot.

"Phew! Thanks for that, Giovanni," Toad said.

"Ouch! No problem, Toad," replied the very soar Pianta.

They all stood up and stared at the mysterious tree house from a closer view. It was much bigger than Peach first thought, with many smaller rooms branching out from one larger, central one. There were also many windows in each room, but only about half of them contained glass panes, yet every window stool held several candles, giving the house an eerie sort of feeling.

"Should we knock?" asked Peach, making her way towards the door.

"No need to," Giovanni responded, "She already knows we're here, I think. You can just open the door.

Peach looked at him curiously, but did just as she was told. She closed her hand around the wooden knob, turned it slowly, and opened the door with caution. What she saw inside was one of the strangest sights Peach had ever seen.

Inside the large, circular room was a woman- a female noki- performing some sort of ceremony. She was short and wore a long, blue dress with a matching blue head dress. Coming out of the head dress were long clumps of dirty blonde hair, which were swaying back and forth as she danced around the fire she had created. What was even stranger about this woman was all of the jewelry she had on. There were at least ten necklaces around her neck, which were made out of gold, shells, and other various objects, followed by several bracelets around her wrists that were much too big for her.

The only thing stranger than the noki herself was what she was doing. As she was dancing and chanting in a language that Peach herself was unfamiliar with, around blue flames that seemed to get larger by the second, Peach and her companions watched in horror as a helpless chicken was lowered into the dancing flames on a rope. It was only five feet away, but with every passing moment it was inches closer.

Four feet away.

Three feet away, Toad let out a small gasp.

Two feet away, Peach grabbed Giovanni's arm.

One foot away, everyone watched in awe.

The struggling chicken was dropped and engulfed in the flames; it died almost instantly.

Toadette shrieked loudly, and it was only then when the woman realized that she had visitors. She turned around and smiled at the sight of Giovanni. She was missing a few teeth, Peach noticed, but they were replaced with gold ones.

"Ah, look who it be!" she shouted in a thick Caribbean accent, "Giovanni, it has been to long! Oh, and others he has brought with him too! Dis be a huge surprise to me!"

"Hello, Tessa," replied Giovanni, waling towards her and hugging her awkwardly, "It's good to see you again, too."

Tessa smiled again and looked in Peach's direction. "Ah, who is dis that you bring to see me! Wait! DO not tell, for I have visioned a woman of your aura composition coming to see me! It is great that we finally meet, Princess Plum."

Peach laughed in her mind. Was this lady serious? "Um, it's Peach, actually. It's nice to meet you too, Tessa."

"Ah, Peach… of course," replied Tessa, "Sometimes me readings can be…slightly blurry."

Tessa then turned her attention towards Toad and Toadette, who still looked slightly terrified from what they had witnessed. "Yes, I do remember seeing something about you two also… I believe it was a love quarrel?"

Toadette snickered loudly and Toad burst out laughing. Tessa looked at them oddly, but then smiled yet again. "Do not worry, me young lovers. What seems strange now may one day be what is mean to be. So, me friends, what brings you here at dis hour of da night?"

"Well," began Peach, "A friend of mine is injured, and Giovanni told me that maybe you could help?"

Tessa instantly walked away into another room, out of Peach's sight. Within minutes she was hurrying back towards them with a large glass jar filled with an electric yellow liquid, and handed it to Peach.

"Give dis to da friend who needs it, and he will be betta within a day."

"Thanks," Peach said to her, taking the strange concoction from Tessa and hoping that they could leave this mysterious abode as soon as possible. "Well, I guess we really should be going. Like you said before, Giovanni, it is getting late."

The cerulean blue noki looked at them sadly. "Leaving already?" she asked, "And we had only just met…well, if you must. Watch out for da fence on your way out. Da only reason I have it iz to keep da Zoshis out."

Toad looked at her curiously. "The Zoshis?"

"Ah, nevamind," retorted Tessa, walking towards a bookshelf and picking up a stack of books that looked like they were thousands of years old, "I must do some more studying, anyway. It was nice to meet all of you. Please come by anytime, now."

Peach would have gladly left that house that very instant, but one of the books Tessa was carrying caught her attention. The History of The Great Espiritu was its title, while the other books had names that were closely related to that very topic.

"Peach, ready to go?" Giovanni asked, already at the door with Toad and Toadette, who by now seemed squeamish about being in this place.

"Iz der sumting else, Princess?" Tessa asked curiously, turning her attention back to her guests.

"Well," began Peach, still not sure what she was going to say. Peach did not particularly care for the way Tessa lived her life or many of the things she did, but from the looks of the books she was carrying, the noki knew at least something regarding The Great Espiritu. But would Peach go as far as asking a woman as strange as Tessa for help? The answer for the Princess was yes. "I was wondering why you were studying these books. Do you know about The Great Espiritu?"

Tessa laughed slightly but answered Peach's question quite seriously. "I have been here in dis treehouse for years learning about da spirits on dis island. Do I know about The Great Espiritu? HA! Of course, I know more about it dan anybody else on dis island."

Peach, wanting eagerly to cut to the chase, did just that. "My husband and others have gone to search for it. I was wondering if maybe… if you could tell me what you know."

Tessa adjusted the way she was carrying her books and then looked over at Giovanni. "I'm guessing dat all of you want to know what she wants to know?"

"Oh, as long as it's quick," replied Toad nervously.

"Alright den, follow me," announced Tessa, "Dis won't be quick, I assure you; you're asking me to explain one hundred years of history to you in one night!"

Peach and the others found themselves following Tessa through an old wooden door, which to Peach's surprise led to a spiral staircase that was built into the very tree the house rested on. When reaching the second floor, she noticed that there was only one very large circular room. Like the room they were in before, it was surrounded by large, open windows, each of which held several red candles that seemed to emit an odd scent. Unlike the other room, however, an enormous oak table took up most of the space, and directly about it was a large, glass-paned sky window, giving Peach a perfect view of the stars above her.

When all five of them had reached the room, Tessa threw her pile of books on the already crowded table, and told her guests to take a seat. She grabbed the book entitled The History of The Great Espritu and began to talk.

"Now, da Great Espiritu is not as ancient as you might tink," she informed Peach (seated next to her) and the others, "It was only two-hundred years ago when the civil war between da Pianta and da Noki ended, and dis unity was when da Great Espiritu was created. Eva since den, da Espiritu Festival has been celebrated annually."

"Had it ever been stolen before?" Giovanni asked.

"Well," Tessa started, "No, but people have plotted to steal it before, but nobody has eva succeeded until now. There is one person who is famous for trying to steal it. he was a Pianta who believed dat his kind should rule da island. His name in unknown, but his death is a well known story. After many attempts at taking da Great Espiritu, it was decided that he be banished from da island. Da people strapped him to a small raft and pushed him into the seas, but not before he said his final words. He promised that one day he would return to this island when the spirit is taken from here so he can rule Isle Delfino forever as a spirit."

"What? That sounds crazy!" Toad exclaimed.

Peach herself wasn't sure how much of this story she believed to be true, but she was interested nonetheless to hear someone's take on The Great Espiritu's history. "So what's going to happen now that The Great Espiritu is gone?" Peach asked, "Will the evil spirit return to Isle Delfino?"

"Most believe to," Tessa replied, grabbing another book named Tales of The Great Espiritu: Fact or Fiction?, and opening it to a page she had previously marked, "About one-hundred and fifty years ago, an oracle prophesized what would happen if da Great Espiritu was taken off the island. Dere are four disastrous events that will occur, and they get worse the longer it is gone.

"Disastrous events?" Peach asked curiously, "What are they, exactly?"

Tessa turned her book a few more pages to a section that Peach could see listed something she couldn't read, though Peach doubted that Tessa had not memorized them herself. "Da first one is not so bad, actually," she told her guests, "It is only a week of nonstop rain and deadly winds. If dis book is correct, dis should start witin days."

Since when are deadly winds not so bad?" Toadette asked.

"What comes after that, Tessa?" Giovanni questioned.

"It is said dat during da storms, da tension between Pianta and Noki will grow quite strong. Strong enough…for another civil war."

Peach looked stunned. She had no idea what she as getting herself into.

"And afta dat," Tessa continued, "Corona Mountain will erupt, which welcomes da last even to take place. You see, it is said dat da eruption of da volcano is what welcomes back the evil spirit, the final event."

"What will the spirit do once it gets here?" Peach asked, starting to think there was a chance that this tale might be true.

"Just what he said he would do," Tessa replied, "He will rule for a period of time known as 'The Dynasty of the Abyss'"

As far-fetched as most of this sounded, Peach didn't know what to believe. Tessa seemed too strange to take seriously, but at the same time too serious to ignore. Would this be the fate of her home if something was not done soon? How long did she and her friends have before it was too late? Peach soon realized how late it was, and figured she could ponder over all of her thoughts in the morning. "Well, thank you so much, Tessa, but we really must get going."

"Of course," the noki replied, "I am always glad to share my stories."

"Tessa," Giovanni began, still somewhat shocked over what he had just heard, "How long is this Dynasty of the Abyss?"

The smile on Tessa's face vanished, and she looked at her friend with a sad expression, one that made everyone in the room realize what the answer was.

"Forever."

**Author's Note:** As you can tell, the chapters are getting a lot longer as the story goes on. Because of this, I have no idea when chapter 10 will be up, because I still have a lot of work to do on it. Anyway, I said there would be a poll, so here it is:

By the end of the story, there will be at least one person who is revealed to be a traitor. There are many characters in this story so far, so who do you think it will be? It could be anybody, so vote a couple times if you wish. You can PM me your vote or just vote in your review of this chapter, which I'm sure you will be doing. And be sure to vote on the other poll as well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and look out for chapter ten! (Whenever it comes out!)


	11. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since an update. I've been way too busy with school to write, but now I'm back on track and should at least have a new chapter every week. If you haven't read the other chapters left, I suggest you go back and read them first, since you'll be lost if you don't. Anyway enjoy the chapter; there's only a few left until the story ends! Not to worry though, part II will be out this summer.

**Chapter 10: Lies and Suspicion**

"I didn't expect to see you here, Mario," Bowser said in his loud, obnoxious voice, "I didn't know you had turned to a life of crime."

Bowser and six other koopas now surrounded Mario and Luigi, blocking all of the exits out of the room. The two brothers stood close together, not knowing what the King Koopa and his minions would do to them.

"I think you know why we're here, Bowser," Mario replied, trying to look brave, even though he was somewhat frightened.

"Oh, do I?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips, "I'm afraid you're mistaken; why don't you just tell us?"

The other koopas snickered.

"Well…" began Luigi, but he was too intimidated by Bowser and his crew to finish.

"We know you have The Great Espiritu!" Mario shouted without hesitation. He looked at all of the koopas with an evil glare, and then turned back to Bowser, "Now tell us where it is!"

At these words, Bowser started howling with laughter. See this, his minions soon followed, trying almost too hard to laugh as much as he was.

"Lies!" shouted one koopa, whose decrepit face and missing eye startled Mario, as he had not noticed it before, "All lies, Mr. Bowser!"

"You can't believe that I had anything to do with that!" Bowser shouted looking like he had never heard anything more ridiculous in his life, "What would I need something like that for?"

Truthfully, Mario did not know. Usually, Bowser's evil-doings rewarded him with Peach or money, which the Great Espiritu did neither. Unless he was getting money for The Great Espiritu…

"You come barging into my hotel room to accuse me of something you can't prove?" Bowser asked, smiling at Mario. "I don't know anything about that spirit, and there's nothing in this room that will tell you otherwise. Looks like you've really searched the place…"

Bowser then looked around the room, disgusted by the mess.

Luigi suddenly spoke, "It actually looked like this before we"-

"Quiet, you!" shouted one of the koopas.

Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to accuse Bowser of anything at the moment, Mario decided that the best thing to do was try and get out of this as safely as possible. "You won't get away with this, Bowser."

He looked down at Mario, but said nothing. Instead, he moved away from the door to the hallway, giving Mario and Luigi safe passage out of the room. "I think it's time for you two to get out of here."

Without hesitating, Luigi quickly began moving towards the door, leaving his brother still looked at Bowser. Mario was not going to leave empty handed. He couldn't believe that these papers would tell him nothing about The Great Espiritu.

"Luigi, run!"

Confused were all by Mario's words, but Luigi followed them nonetheless, running awkwardly out of the half-open door, while Mario picked up an empty glass off of the moldy dresser next to him. Concentrating on the dimly-lit light bulb on the ceiling, Mario lunged the glass upward, and just as he had expected, the bulb cracked, sparked, and then died completely.

Not knowing what was going on, the koopas began yelling and running into eachother. Mario quickly grabbed a stack of papers before sprinting out of the pitch-black room, praying that he wouldn't run into any walls. He exited the room safely, assisted Curoso (who looked as if he had just awoken from a concussion), and headed for the stairs back down to the bar.

Now mid-morning, the bar was slightly less crowded than it had been earlier. Mario could see Luigi assisting Flavio back up to his feet, although he was sure he was suffering from something much different than Curoso. Upon walking by the bar, Mario was approached by Tina, whose kind expression he remembered from before was now gone, replaced by an angry look that made her appear older than she actually was.

"I thought you said there wasn't going to be any trouble?" she asked him harshly.

"Tina, there wasn't any trouble"-

"I'm down here cleaning plates and al of the sudden I hear crashing and yelling, and then you come down here with your friend looking like this? Whoever you were up there with definitely won't like you when he realizes he's gotta pay for damages."

Mario snickered awkwardly. "Sorry, Tina," he said, quite sincerely. To Mario's delight, Tina's kind expression returned to her young face.

"I think it'd be best if you guys got outta here," she insisted, "for your own good."

Mario agreed, and thanked Tina for all of her help. He and Curoso met up with Luigi and Flavio and left the bar, welcomed by yet another cloudy, depressing day.

"So what happened in there?" asked Curoso, who was caressing the large bruise that had formed of his forehead, "I got hit in the head by that old crazy koopa."

"All we found in the room was a bunch of papers," replied Luigi, who was supporting the drunken Flavio as they walked down the dismal docks, "We really didn't find out anything."

Mario looked up at his brother. "That's not true! We know that Bowser's here, at least. And these papers might be able to tell us something."

He looked down at the stack of papers he had grabbed before rushing out of the hotel room. At first glance, they didn't look like anything that could assist them. Most were blank; others had writing in languages Mario did not recognize. The last page, containing pictures of a strange mask, made Mario realize that there was nothing here that could help them.

"Anything there, Mario?" Luigi asked in an annoyed voice.

Mario didn't answer his question. "Look, we may not be able to prove anything, but I know that Bowser has something to do with The Great Espiritu!"

Luigi rolled his eyes. "Sure…you see Bowser and all of the sudden he's a suspect."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mario asked angrily, just as they approached their ship.

Luigi stopped walking and stared at Mario. Curoso, noticing that the two brothers were about to argue, took Flavio's hand and guided him onto the Avido. Mario wished they would have stayed; he had no idea what Luigi was going to say to him now that they were alone.

"You've always been the hero ever since I can remember, Mario," Luigi began, still with an angry expression on his face, "You always seem to know what you're doing, always think you're on the right track; but I think you've gone too far this time."

"Uh, what are you talking about?"

"We're on a wild goose chase, Mario! There are hundreds of people who could have taken The Great Espiritu and kidnapped Bobbery, but just because Bowser's here, you suspect him."

Mario couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did his own brother really think that someone besides Bowser was behind all of this? Without saying anything, Mario turned away from Luigi and headed for the ship, leaving his brother alone on the filthy docks.

He got onboard and was welcomed by Bella, nagging to him about not being included in the search for Bowser. He ignored her, and continued on into the sleeping quarters, where Flavio could be heard snoring even though his room was down the hall. Mario jumped into his bed, grabbed one of the blank sheets of paper he had acquired from Bowser's hotel room, and began to write a letter to Peach, someone who here wished was here with him, or even better, who he was home with.

Mario wrote, and told her that they had arrived on the island, that all leads pointed to Bowser, and that she didn't have to worry.

However, he decided to leave out the fact that there really were no leads, that his only friend on the island didn't believe him, and that he was beginning to think that this entire journey was a very bad idea.

Author's Note: It's short, but hopefully you weren't disappointed. Please read and review, and tell your friends! Chapter 11 will hopefully be out within the next week.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Noki Removal Act

Two days after her visit with Tessa Noki, Peach awoke in her large, empty bed to what she expected would be another clear, sunny day in Rico Harbor. After straightening herself up to a sitting position at the bed's foot, Peach took in her surroundings. She knew at once that something was not right.

Yet she could not see anything out of place. None of the furniture had been moved; everything was in its proper place- just how Peach liked it. It was the lighting that seemed to have changed. The ex-princess always slept with heavy curtains over the numerous windows, but the sun always seemed to cast in a little light in the morning, as if demanding to enter the bedroom. Today, however, the sun's rays were not shining through the brown curtains. Had she woken up early? Peach checked the clock. If anything, she had woken up late, for it was already half past eight. Puzzled, she walked over to the nearest window, the one opposite the four-post bed, pulled aside the curtain, and gasped.

It was cloudy for the first time since Mario and Peach had called the island their home. Occasionally Peach had seen small white clouds that sporadically blocked out the sun for a few seconds, but never had she seen these large gray clouds that now dominated the morning sky. They were more like on massive cloud than individual clouds, for their resulting effect was a depressing glow that covered the window's view, the one that usually brightened Peach's mornings.

Tessa's words were now echoing endlessly in Peach's mind: "_A week of endless rain…" _Was the prophecy she spoke of coming true? Peach knew it had never been cloudy before when she lived here, and then days after she hears a prophecy, the sky is practically black. It all seemed to fit so well…

"No," Peach spoke aloud to herself, "I'm just looking for reasons for it all to fit together. Just because there's a few clouds outside doesn't mean an entire prophecy is being fulfilled. I can't let this get in the way of what I have to do."

Peach quickly dressed and got herself ready for the busy day she had planned out the day prior. Just as she threw on a magenta jacket and headed for the bedroom door, she could hear the tiniest little raindrop land on the windowpane closest to her. Peach sighed, but quickly calmed herself, realizing that a little rain could do nothing to spoil her day.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

As she walked into the long, narrow dining hall of the manor, Peach could see that Toadsworth was also puzzled about the strange weather. After taking the medicine Tessa had given him, the pain in Toadsworth's head had gone away, and today it was almost impossible for Peach to tell that he had ever been hurt. But it seemed that the clouds had gotten the best of him, for Toadsworth did not look joyful this morning. He kept looking up from his copy of the newspaper to stare out of the large bay window at one end of the room to see if the sky had returned to its normal mood; but to his and Peach's dismay, it did not.

"Ah, good morning, Princess," said Toadsworth as he saw her approach the chair next to him. "Awful weather we're having this morning, wouldn't you say? Here's something that will cheer you up: more RSVPs."

"Oh, excellent!" Peach exclaimed, as Toadsworth handed her a pile of letters addressed to her. The morning before, Peach had decided that the best way to settle the dispute between the Pianta and the Noki was to invite Allegro, Saggio, and important members of the two tribes over for a dinner party set that very night. She had quickly mailed out invitations and was pleased that so many people had responded so soon. "So we know that Allegro's coming with Esperenza, but I still haven't heard anything from Saggio. I do hope that he got his letter; I mean he lives on the complete opposite side of the island in Noki Bay. I just want him and Allegro to talk about what's happening, to come up with some sort of solution to all of the problems going on…is there anything in the paper, Toadsworth?

"Yes," he replied, perusing the front page, "But unfortunately it's nothing good. Several fishing boats owned by Noki were destroyed down at Gelato Beach. And several shops in Rico Harbor owned by Piantas are now refusing to sell goods to Noki after last week's attack." Toadsworth put down the paper and sighed. Peach could see that he was clearly sickened by all of the events going on in what used to be such a beautiful place. "I really hope tonight goes well, Princess. Is everything all set?"

"Well, not quite," answered Peach, who quickly finished a piece of toast and rose from her chair. "I actually wasn't expecting so many people to come on such short notice. I figured I should go out and get another ham just in case."

"Are you sure, Princess?" Toadsworth asked caringly. "It's raining out, you know."

This was true. In less than the ten minutes it had taken for Peach to come downstairs and eat breakfast, steady rainfall had begun to gently tap on the windowpanes. The sight of water dripping down the windows of Peach's house was completely alien to her.

"Oh, please, it's just a little rain," she told Toadsworth. "I'll be fine."

The door behind them opened, and Toad walked in the room clumsily, for he was wearing a jacket that was twice his size. He collected Peach and Toadsworth's dishes and started to walk away when he tripped over the tail of the jacket and fell, bringing the dishes to an ear-splitting crash against the hardwood floor.

"Toad, take that ridiculous thing off," demanded Peach as she walked over to him and helped pick up the broken pieces of china. "I'll find you a proper coat, and then you and I are going out into town."

"Perfect," remarked Toad, "The one day you bring me with you on an errand just happens to be the ugliest day in human history."

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Less than ten minute later, Peach and Toad hastily hurried into the carriage waiting for them at the front door. Because they had never had a need for an umbrella since they had moved in, Peach could not find one in the house. She thought about buying one while she was out, but then realized that there probably wasn't a single umbrella on the entire island.

The carriage drove back to the main road and then took the first left, which led to the paved jungle path that would take them to Delfino Plaza. Peach knew that Rico Harbor, although famous for its fruits and fish, did not have the best selection of meats, and she wanted to make sure that everything she bought for tonight was perfect. Therefore, she wanted to head to a deli she knew sold the best ham the island had to offer, and if that meant a longer journey in the carriage, then so be it.

The ride, however, was not smooth. The brick road the carriage traveled on was not built for rain, making it hard for the driver to navigate through all of the deep puddles periodically spaced along the way. The slower pace meant that it took Peach's carriage over twice as long as usual to reach the point where the jungle path opened into a stunning view of Delfino Plaza and its towering Shine Gate. But even the massive structure had lost much of its glory from the rain.

The carriage navigated down the winding road and onto the plaza streets. Peach had never seen them so different. It was clear that the citizens of the island's capital were as unfamiliar with rain as they were with an alien spacecraft landing in the harbor. Hardly anyone was walking down the usually crowded walkways, and those who did dare to fight the rain (which was now at a downpour) did so sprinting and screaming, as if being tortured by some invisible monster. It was almost quite comical to Peach, but the thought of Tessa's prophecy kept entering her mind, and the smile quickly faded from her face.

She had the driver stop at a local deli at the corner of Mango Road, and she and Toad quickly jumped out and headed for the door. They actually would have remained relatively dry had Toad not slipped only feet away from the entrance. Peach hurried back, got Toad to his feet, and hurried into the little store, but buy that time she was absolutely soaked.

Besides the store owner behind the counter and a Pianta woman at the other side of the shop Peach couldn't make out, the deli was empty. Not wanting to spend much of her time out and about, Peach quickly went to the counter and requested the ham she wanted for the party.

"We keep our largest cuts in the back freezer," the Pianta told her, after hearing that she wished to have the biggest ham the store could offer. "I will be back in a moment."

Peach nodded, although she was slightly irritated that their needed to be any wait at all. There was still so much to do back at home…

The other Pianta in the store was also approaching the counter. Up close, Peach realized that she did know her: it was Allegro's wife, Esperenza.

"Oh, good morning Peach!" she said, and Peach immediately noticed that Esperenza was the first person she had seen all day who cheerfulness had not been washed away by the rain. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

"No," replied Peach curiously, "It's dreadful outside, Esperenza." Peach couldn't help but notice the almost sickening way she was humming as she happily emptied her carriage. It was obvious that she was happy about something.

"Well, what has you so joyful today?" Peach asked.

"Oh, but don't you know?" Esperenza asked inquisitively. "Well, actually, I suppose you don't, I mean it didn't make the paper this morning…but oh, you'll hear all about it at the party tonight, of course. Let's just say things are finally going to be changing around here, Peach." She then let out a disgusting laugh that made the shop itself cringe. "Well, I've got to be off, but we'll see each other again tonight! Bye bye!"

And with that Esperenza skipped happily out of the deli, leaving only Peach and Toad, who stared at one another with puzzled expressions on their faces.

"What exactly is that lady on?" Toad asked. Peach laughed for the first time all day; but it was short-lived, because in all seriousness Esperenza's words deeply troubled her. Just what had happened that had made the mayor's wife so wickedly high-spirited?

She didn't have to wait for the party that night to find out. After paying for a ham so large that it took both Toad and Peach to carry it, they walked back out into the now torrential downpour to see that the streets were no longer deserted. Further down the road, Peach could see a small crowd gathered around a large signed posted on the side of a building. Interested, Peach dropped the ham and ran over to see what was causing such a scene. She couldn't get to the sign right away because there were still so many people congregating around it, but Peach could hear remarks from those walking away and realized that whatever had been nailed on the wall could not be good.

"I can't believe it's come this," said one Pianta man, nodding his head in despair.

"One week! How can Allegro do this? What will Saggio do to help us?" yelled one Noki woman, slowly rocking her crying baby back and forth.

Getting more and more curious by the second, Peach gently made her way through the crowd of people until she was directly in front of the glass which protected the large yellow paper from the wrath of the rain. The bold print read:

By order of Allegro Pianta, Mayor of Delfino Plaza and Leader of the Pianta Tribe, and for the protection of Delfino Plaza from recent acts of terrorism, all Noki citizens must relocate from the capital within one week. This is only to ensure that hostility among Pianta and Noki does not continue and that both tribes will be able to peacefully coexist on Isle Delfino. All Noki who do not leave Delfino Plaza within one week will be punished under Pianta law.

Signed Allegro G. Pianta, Mayor of Delfino Plaza

Peach was speechless. Was this what had made Esperenza so happy? She felt absolutely disgusted that the disappearance of the Great Espiritu had come to this. Peach, who could remember times when Piantas and Noki laughed together at her parties and helped each other during times of need, couldn't imagine the possibility of an Isle Delfino where the two groups were separated. Then, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Peach's thoughts traveled to the prophecy. But by then she had learned to brush the thought off almost immediately. She had to keep her mind in the present, and stop thinking about the uncertainty the future held. And at that moment in time, all she could think about was the Noki Removal Act. _This won't solve anything_, Peach said to herself. _Things are only going to get worse. _

And now, Peach had a new objective set for the party that night. She was going to give Allegro Pianta a piece of her mind.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: The Visit and the Visitor**

Bowser was a complete mess. He was running through the forest with a few of his cronies, hoping to find the clearing where Diavolo supposedly was, but his mind was in too many other places at once.

_Mario is on to me! What will Diavolo say when I tell him? How will I get Junior back?_ were just a few of the questions racing through his head.

"Hey boss, you know where we're goin'?" one of the koopas asked, "my legs ah killin' me, we've been runnin' for foreve out here."

"Quiet!" The King Koopa yelled. "Yes, I know where we are, and we're almost there. Now keep moving!"

In reality Bowser had no idea where they were, but kept running nonetheless. _I have to find him_, he said to himself. _But he'll be so angry with me…_

But by that time the decision was made. Bowser had pushed his way out from the trees and bushes and into a small grassy clearing. There were probably many like this in the forest, but Bowser knew at once that he had arrived at the right place. Directly in front of them was a small cave, one that many might miss if they happened to enter this part of the forest at night. But Bowser could see it; he could practically hear Diavolo snickering inside of it.

"Diavolo!" Bowser yelled with confidence, or so he hoped. "Diavolo, I need to speak with you! I think we might have a problem!"

There was silence. Bowser couldn't hear nor see anything from inside the cave, and began to wonder if this was the right place at all. He was about to continue walking when-

"A problem, you say?"

One of the koopas screamed in terror. Diavolo did not appear from the cave, but popped out from inside Bowser's shell. Bowser, horrified and disgusted, could barely catch his own breath. "How…how long have you been in there?" he asked the ghastly apparition.

"Oh, I wasn't going to let you go without keeping an eye on you for a while," replied Diavolo in his airy voice. "I came back here to deposit the Great Espiritu and have since then been comfortable in your shell, watching everything that you have been doing. Of course, you know I must not be pleased with you, Bowser. You told me there would be nothing to worry about, and yet here we are, on the verge of being discovered."

Bowser, now breathing normally, gave a feeble attempt at gaining control over Diavolo. "Well, I'm sure Mario never suspected me originally, but seeing him here must have gotten him thinking it could have been me. It was coincidence that I was found out. Plus, he still has no proof that I was the one who stole the spirit."

Diavolo pondered for a moment, making his way around the circular clearing and occasionally floating—to their distaste—through the bodies of Bowser's minions. "Yes, but we still must take care of this little problem," he said. "But what to do…what to do…"

Bowser stood still, not letting Diavolo catch a glimpse of the nerves that were bouncing around inside of him. _Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt Junior!_

After what seemed like several minutes to the koopas, Diavolo spoke. "Here is the plan," he began. "I must have the spirit taken to another island, and you have to get off this island before Mario starts gathering evidence. So, you will transport the Great Espiritu for me. You will leave early tomorrow morning while the rest of this pathetic town is either still sleeping or just heading to bed. I will give you a map to your destination; upon arrival you will drop off the spirit and pick up your son. Do this, and you will be free from my services. Do you understand?"

A weight so powerful fell from Bowser that he felt as light as weightless as the ghost standing in front of him. _Everything is going to be OK_, he thought to himself, _Junior and I are going to be safe_.

"Yes, I understand," Bowser responded.

"You'll need this," said Diavolo, pointing a transparent hand to the cave as if summoning something, "Do try to be careful with it. I'd hate to see you mess up again."

From out of the cave floated a glass box with the shimmering light Bowser recognized as the Great Espiritu. It came to a halt directly in front of him, and the King Koopa grabbed it and placed it in his shell. "I promise, sir," he said.

"Good," stated Diavolo. "Do as I say, and we won't have to worry about Mario anymore."

And with that, Bowser was off. He and his cronies went back into the thickness of the forest, a thickness so great that it muffled the laughs of Diavolo; but Bowser himself was too happy to notice anything at all.

* * * * * *

After hours of cooking, cleaning up the yard, and putting out a kitchen fire caused by Toad's carelessness, the Toads and the rest of the servants seemed to have everything set in place for the night's festivities. But to Peach, everything did only _seem_ ready. So, having an hour until guests arrived and nothing else to do but wait, Peach made it her personal mission to taste every entrée, rearrange every out-of-place flower, and fix any error that she could catch with her eye, as if these imperfections made it their job to remain well hidden.

"Excuse me, this soup is cold!" she announced, while perusing the kitchen with Toadsworth for any problems with the food, "How do you expect anyone to eat this?"

One of the chefs looked up from the bread he was slicing and stared at her in amusement. "My lady, it is chilled lime soup," he replied, smiling as he continued his work. "Is there a problem?"

Peach, suddenly pulled back down to Earth, chuckled embarrassingly. "Oh…oh, no. No, I'm sure it's fine. I'm so sorry about that, don't let me interrupt you anymore." She rushed out of the busy kitchen, Toadsworth still at her heels, and found her way into the parlor, where she plopped herself into the sofa and stared out of the bay window in front of her. The rainfall had not subsided from that morning, but had instead grown in both speed and droplet size. Peach's thoughts were elsewhere, however, beyond the raindrop-stained window and across the island in Delfino Plaza, where hundreds of Noki were now leaving their homes, where children were crying, and where all hope seemed to be lost.

"You expect too much of yourself, Princess," Toadsworth said, now taking a seat next to her, "You are not Princess here, and there's no reason for you to act like it. The best thing you can do is talk to Allegro and find out his reasoning behind his actions. You can't expect anything to happen at this party that will change his mind; I mean it does sound like this act of his is set in stone, am I correct?"

Peach sighed, her attention now away from the window and whatever was beyond it. "No, Toadsworth," she replied, tears beginning to form in her deep blue eyes, "I can't believe there's any reason to kick people out of their homes. That spirit, the Great Espiritu, it was just a thing! How can a stupid symbol destroy this island?"

"Yes, it is just a thing," Toadsworth agreed, "But if that thing was all that was keeping this island together, maybe the peace here was never real in the first place. Maybe this was inevitable."

Peach shook her head. "I can't believe that either. There was more to the peace of this place than just that spirit. There were friendships, and celebrations, there was acceptance! I have to at least talk to Allegro and try and convince him to reconsider, how could I live here otherwise? It's not all about that spirit, it can't be…"

Her mind shifted suddenly to Mario. She hadn't heard from him at all since he had left, and wondered if he had received any of her letters. Then again, she didn't even know where to send them—she had only guessed at his location.

"You're right, Princess," said Toadsworth, "You can try. But do remember that Allegro is a powerful man, and it will take more than a party and a few drinks to make him change his mind about something like that. But I will do what I can to assist you. Now, I do believe that guests will be arriving within the next half hour! Let's stop sitting around, shall we?"

They rose from the couch, just as they heard the chime of the doorbell in the foyer. As Toad opened the door, Peach could tell that this was no party guest. He made such a loud entrance that Peach immediately realized that something was not right—not that many things were right these days. She rushed into the entryway to find not Allergro or Saggio or Esperenza, but Giovanni, soaked from head to toe as if he had run all the way here from Rico Harbor.

"Giovanni!" she exclaimed. She had not invited him to the party, for she had only just met him, but wasn't displeased to see him in the slightest. "What are you doing here? You look just awful!"

"Peach," Giovanni began, now putting his hands on his knees and attempting to catch his breath, "I had to leave the Harbor. The Noki had a meeting, I watched it from my bedroom window. They've started to get organized; they're preparing for a rebellion!"

Peach was speechless. Not only had one side of the conflict acted, but the other had already begun to react. It seemed like it was all happening so fast, and was almost too much for the former princess to wrap her head around.

_It's up to me to stop this_, she said to herself. _Or at least slow it down_.

* * * * * *

Mario was stuck in a lethargic state of mind that seemed impossible to escape. He had sent his letter out to Peach and then returned to the boat to sleep while the others seemed to just be starting their day. He was tired as it was, but the fact that he and Luigi had ended the day (or began it) so badly, combined with the fact that no one seemed to be supportive of his theory of Bowser caused him to want to sleep more than ever, as if it would merely erase everything and the crew could start fresh when he woke up.

Upon getting up in the late afternoon and throwing himself out of bed minutes later, he immediately realized that no nothing had changed at all, or at least deduced so from the scene in the next room. Koopen was lying on the bottom hammock with what looked like a giant bruise on his forehead, and Curoso and the Dry Bones twins were sitting beside him in silence.

"What happened?" Mario asked, as caringly as he could.

Pelle and Osso attempted to explain, but with one only recounting what he heard and the other only what he saw, their account made absolutely no sense at all. "Sorry, but I'd rather hear it directly from Koopen. What happened?"

"Oh Mr. Mario, it was terrible," groaned Koopen, carefully rubbing his injury. "A stranger just walked into our cabin, we didn't even see him coming, gave us such a scare he did…"

"And he did that to you?" Mario asked, pointing at the swollen red area on his head.

"Oh no," Koopen said, laughing a little, "Bella thought it would be a good idea to just start swinging her frying pan around to try and scare him off. She looked like a complete idiot, smacked me right in the face and didn't even come close to the man in the cloak. I think I'll be alright though, doesn't seem too bad."

Mario chuckled, but was saddened at the same time. Out of all of the people in the world, these were the ones who were supposed to help him find the Great Espiritu?

"So who was the stranger? What did he want?"

"Well actually Mario, he wanted to talk to you," piped up Curoso. "I was just about to go wake you up, he's been here for so long and it sounds like he wants something important, I don't even know if he's still up there waiting, he could have left by now, I should have woken you up sooner"-

"Thanks Curoso," interjected Mario, letting the goomba catch his breath. "Where is he now?"

"Upstairs, on the main deck."

Mario walked out of the room and made his way out of the boat's lower levels. He didn't see Luigi, Flavio, or Bella as he made his way outside; he wondered if they had gone back to town to do more "investigating," but soon discovered that Flavio was not up to his drunken self at this hour. He could hear his obnoxious—yet coherent—voice even before he opened the door and was surrounded by the salty air of the ocean.

He found the strange cloaked man looking out into the open water and away from the smog and filthiness of Foschia Island. His body was completely covered by the large piece of clothing, but even that couldn't stop him from swaying back and forth in the evening wind, Mario noticed. On his right side, keeping his distance, was Flavio. He seemed to be attempting to stare at the ocean as well, but was too preoccupied with trying to start conversation with the visitor. Or at least, he was attempting to tell him about all of his greatest accomplishments.

"Are you a sailor, old chap?" Flavio asked, diving in closer to the man every time he tried to speak to him. "Quite the explorer myself I must say. I don't know if you have ever heard of the treasure of Cortez?"

The cloaked figure did not answer him. From what Mario could gather, this question-and-no-answer session had been going on for quite a long time. He then decided to make his presence known.

"Hello, Flavio," Mario said, causing the two sea-viewers to turn around and face him.

"Oh Mario, there you are!" Flavio exclaimed, putting his chubby hands together. "This man has wanted to speak to you for some time. I do apologize, my good friend; Mario rarely sleeps at these hours, we were out quite late the night before and things got a little bit out of hand, if you know what I mean…"

"I understand," said the visitor, whose strong, commanding voice seemed almost unreal, as if it wasn't the voice he naturally possessed. "I must speak with Mario alone, however. If you could please leave us…"

Flavio looked somewhat hurt, but agreed. "Yes, of course. Do go on without me, there are things that I must be getting on with anyway. Carry on."

He walked back into the boat's cabin, and Mario and the visitor were alone.

"So, what is it that you want?" Mario asked curiously, thinking that it might be about Flavio's terrible behavior last night in town, but then realizing that they were on Foschia Island, where it was custom to act as Flavio does on a regular basis. He stared at the figure for several long seconds before he answered.

"You search for the Great Espiritu, am I correct?"

Mario wasn't expecting this at all, but was immediately intrigued. "Yes, yes we are. What do you know about it?"

The visitor's face was completely hidden by the cloaks hood, shielding Mario from any emotion or expressions he might have picked up on otherwise. He suddenly felt vulnerable and uncomfortable.

"I know you suspect Bowser, and I am here to tell you that you're suspicions have been correct," replied the stranger. "And I want to help you. Tomorrow, Bowser will leave this island, and he will be in possession of the object you desire so much."

Mario couldn't believe what he was hearing. Finally, he was getting somewhere in his search! He couldn't wait to tell Luigi that he had been right all along.

"He will depart from the east docks at sunrise," continued the visitor. "No sooner and no later. If you want the Great Espiritu, this is your last chance. Bowser is going to destroy it once he arrives at his final destination, forever breaking the bond between the Pianta and Noki that you have been trying to revive."

It seemed almost too good to be true, Mario thought. "How do you know all of this?" he asked.

"I have been watching Bowser carefully," the figure replied. "I have seen him in possession of the spirit, I have heard him talk of his plans for tomorrow, and I have heard him speak of what he wishes to do with it. Bowser wants something out of the inevitable war between the two tribes of Delfino Island, but what that is exactly I do not know. But you must stop him; you must get the Great Espiritu back in your possession. Do as I say: tomorrow, sunrise, east docks. You will find what you need."

Mario was overwhelmed. Minutes before it had felt like they didn't have any leads in their search, and now it seemed the end was just over the horizon. He didn't know the man that stood in front of him; he only knew that if what he had just told him was true, he could be back in Isle Delfino within the next few days, and could restore the bond between the tribes he had learned to love over his time as a resident. He imagined what Peach would say to him once he returned with the Great Espiritu, how Luigi would tell him how he was right all along, how he would be a hero again, just like in the old days. It all seemed so tangible, so real…

But then Mario opened his eyes, and he saw that the stranger was gone. He looked over the boat's railings at the dock's walkway and saw him speeding back towards town in the distance, almost as if he were merely flying by them.

Mario made his way back into the boat's interior. _It's time for me to take control of things around here_, Mario said to himself, thinking that if he had everyone here following the same plan, they just might get what they had come here for.


End file.
